Reduced-complexity integrated guaranteed-rate optical packet switch

ABSTRACT

A reduced-complexity optical packet switch which can provide a deterministic guaranteed rate of service to individual traffic flows is described. The switch contains N input ports, M output ports and N*M Virtual Output Queues (VOQs). Packets are associated with a flow f, which arrive an input port and depart on an output port, according to a predetermined routing for the flow. These packets are buffered in a VOQ. The switch can be configured to store several deterministic periodic schedules, which can be managed by an SDN control-plane. A scheduling frame is defined as a set of F consecutive time-slots, where data can be transmitted over connections between input ports and output ports in each time-slot. Each input port can be assigned a first deterministic periodic transmission schedule, which determines which VOQ is selected to transmit, for every time-slot in the scheduling frame. Each input port can be assigned a second deterministic periodic schedule, which determines which traffic flow within a VOQ is selected to transmit. Each input port can be assigned a third deterministic periodic schedule, which specifies to which VOQ an arriving packet (if any) is destined, for each time-slot in a scheduling frame. Each input port can be assigned a fourth deterministic periodic schedule, which specifies to which Flow-VOQ within a VOQ an arriving packet (if any) is destined. In this manner, each traffic flow can receive a deterministic guaranteed-rate of transmission through the switch.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application claims the benefit of the filing date of U.S.provisional application No. 62/238,510 filed on Oct. 7, 2015, thecontents of which are hereby incorporated by reference herein.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates generally to communications networks,devices and methods, and more particularly to a method and hardwaredesigns to dramatically reduce the complexity of optical packet switchesand routers. The method and designs yields reduced-complexityGuaranteed-Rate packet-switches which can be integrated into a singleintegrated circuit package. These integrated switches offer reducedcomplexity, deterministic (or Guaranteed-Rate) service to traffic flows,exceptionally low latencies, 100% utilization and improved energyefficiency. The method and designs can be used to support the InternetProtocol (IP) IPv4 and IPv6 networks, ATM networks, MPLS networks,optical networks, and 4G and 5G wireless networks.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Articles Incorporated by Reference

The following documents are hereby incorporated by reference. Thesedocuments may be referred to by their title or by their numeric value.

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There are several types of communications networks, including InternetProtocol (IP) networks, MPLS networks, Ethernet networks, Infinibandnetworks, and ATM networks. Switches are important components of thesenetworks, and appear in ‘Internet Protocol’ (IP) routers, wirelessrouters, ATM and MPLS switches, data-center networks, computing systemsand many other systems. A basic switch design allows several input portsto forward data to several output ports.

The Internet network carries ‘Internet Protocol’ (IP) packets. TheInternet network currently supports 2 packet formats, IP version 4 andIP version 6, which are denoted IPv4 and IPv6 respectively. IPv4 packetstypically vary in size from 64 bytes up to a maximum of about 1500bytes. IPv6 packets can contain up to 64 Kbytes (or more). IP packetsare typically buffered in the routers or switches of an Internetnetwork, and the amount of buffers required in a typical router orswitch can be very large. Often, thousands or millions of packets can bebuffered in one IP router or switch. The switches used in routers aretypically organized into one of three basic queuing schemes; switcheswhich use Input Queues (IQs), switches which use Output Queues (OQs),and switches which use Crosspoint Queues (XQs). Combinations of thesebasic queuing schemes are also used.

IQ switches typically place buffers at the input side of the switch. Acomplex scheduler is used to schedule the transmission of packets fromthe input side to the output side, while avoiding collisions of packetsat the output side (a collision occurs when two packets arrive at oneoutput port simultaneously). An OQ switch places the buffers at theoutput side of the switch. If multiple packets arrive simultaneously tothe same output port, then the switch must have an internal ‘speedup’ tobe able to deliver these multiple packets to one output queuesimultaneously. The speedup requirement increases the cost of the OQswitch. Large OQ switches are considered impractical.

A Crosspoint Queued (XQ) switch places the buffers, called crosspointbuffers, within the switching matrix, between the input and output sidesof the switch. Each crosspoint buffer typically stores packets whichoriginate at one input port and which are directed to one output port.XQ switches are easier to schedule than IQ switches, and they do nothave the speedup requirement of OQ switches.

Combinations of these basic buffering schemes are possible, for exampleswitches can use ‘Combined Input and Output Queues’ (CIOQ), switches canuse ‘Combined Input and Crosspoint Queues’ (CIXQ), and switches can use‘Combined Input, Crosspoint and Output Queues’ (CIXOQ). The methods toreduce switch complexity to be presented in this document apply to allthese switch designs.

Today's Internet Protocol network has relied upon a complex‘Best-Effort’ design principle, for the last 40 years. Today'sBest-Effort Internet network uses ‘Best-Effort’ switches and routers,which cannot provide any strict performance guarantees to the trafficflows they transport. For example, a Best-Effort switch cannot provideany strict delay or jitter guarantees on the packets it transports. TheBest-Effort Internet frequently encounters congestion, where eachInternet router can buffer millions of packets, and can experiencedelays of 10s to 100s of milliseconds. The end-to-end delays in theBest-Effort Internet can reach several 100s of milliseconds during timesof congestion. As a result of congestion, today's Best-Effort Internetrouters and switches are large, they are costly, and they consume greatdeals of power.

Consider the Cisco CRS-3 core router, which is described in the document[23] entitled “Cisco CRS Carrier Routing System Multishelf SystemDescription”, and paper [7] entitled “Securing the Industrial-TactileInternet of Things with Deterministic Silicon Photonics Switches”. Asingle Cisco CRS-3 router chassis consists of a cabinet of electronics,with dimensions of about 80 inches high, 24 inches wide, and 48 inchesdeep. One router chassis has a peak capacity of about 4.48 Terabits persecond (Tbps), it weighs about 1,630 pounds (or 740 kilograms), and itconsumes about 7.7 KiloWatts (kW) of power. The proposed methods anddesigns will establish that much of this hardware is unnecessary totransport data effectively.

Best-Effort routers and switches typically use ‘iterative sub-optimal’algorithms for scheduling the transmission of packets through theswitch. The iSLIP scheduling algorithm described in [18] is one exampleof an iterative scheduler. These schedulers examine the size of thequeues on a switch, and typically make instantaneous schedulingdecisions based upon the sizes of the queues. Typically, a queue with alarge number of packets will receive preferential treatment over a queuewith a small number of packets. These schedulers are ‘sub-optimal’,since their scheduling decisions depend upon the immediate state of thequeues, and they do not consider past or future traffic patterns. Thesesub-optimal schedulers do not provide any strict guarantees for thedelay or jitter of a packet through a switch. These iterative schedulersare complex, they are built into hardware circuits for maximum speed,and they cannot be modified by a network manager. As a result ofiterative sub-optimal schedulers (and unregulated transmission ratesfrom traffic sources), today's Best-Effort networks cannot provide anystrict performance guarantees for end-to-end traffic flows, they cannotoperate at 100% of capacity, and they often encounter congestion.

Best-Effort networks such as the Internet are typically operated atlight loads, to lower congestion and to provide reasonable delays andjitters for traffic flows. This technique of operating a network at afraction of its peak capacity is called ‘over-provisioning’, and today'sBest-Effort Internet relies upon the significant over-provisioning ofbandwidth to lower delays and congestion, and to provide reasonabledelays and jitters for traffic flows. The current Best-Effort Internetfunctions because the backbone networks have been significantlyover-provisioned to reduce congestion and to lower delays.

The paper [6] by T. H Szymanski entitled “Supporting Consumer Servicesover a Deterministic Industrial Internet Core Network”, shows that 4network manufacturers, including Cisco, Huawei, Ericsson andAlcatel-Lucent, sell about $74 Billion US per year in predominantlybest-effort equipment. This equipment is typically utilized at less than50% of its peak capacity, due to over-provisioning. In other words,about 50% of the yearly capital costs of new networking equipment iseffectively wasted due to over-provisioning. This paper [6] shows thatthe over-provisioning of Best-Effort networks can cost thecommunications industry over $37 Billion US per year, in unnecessarycapital costs. It has also been estimated that the Internet iscontributing a noticeable percentage of all worldwide greenhouse gasses,thereby contributing to Global Warming and Climate Change.

Recent research has shown that ‘Deterministic’ networks offer manybenefits over Best-Effort networks. A deterministic network supportsdeterministic traffic flows, which are also called ‘Guaranteed Rate’(GR) traffic flows. A GR traffic flow can transmit packets at aguaranteed rate, along a fixed path from a source node to a destinationnode, through a network of deterministic packet-switches. Adeterministic packet-switch will eliminate the use of the heuristicsub-optimal schedulers used in the Best-Effort Internet routers andswitches. In a deterministic network, a logical controller canpre-compute deterministic transmission schedules for each switch inadvance, and these schedules can be re-used as long as the trafficdemands through a router or switch do not change.

Deterministic switches have been presented in several documentsrecently. The paper [5] by T. H. Szymanski entitled “A Low-JitterGuaranteed Rate Scheduling Algorithm for Packet-Switched IP Routers”,describes a deterministic CIOQ switch (Combined Input and OutputQueues). It also describes a fast scheduling algorithm to schedule thepackets of several GR traffic flows through an unbuffered crossbarswitch with very low jitter. The patent [9], U.S. Pat. No. 8,089,959 B2,describes the CIOQ switch and the algorithm in more detail. The patent[12], U.S. Pat. No. 8,503,440 B2, describes a deterministic CIXOQ switch(Combined Input, Crosspoint and Output Queues). It also describes a fastscheduling algorithm, to schedule the packets of several GR trafficflows through crossbar switch with internal crosspoint buffers, withvery low jitter.

The patent [10], U.S. Pat. No. 8,665,722, describes techniques tosupport deterministic or GR traffic flows in the Internet network. Thepatent [13], U.S. Pat. No. 8,681,609 B2, describes techniques toschedule multiple deterministic or GR traffic flows over one commonoutput link. The patent [11], U.S. Pat. No. 8,619,556 B2, describesdeterministic wireless switches or routers which support deterministicor GR traffic flows through a deterministic wireless mesh network. Thewireless network can be for example a deterministic 5G wireless radioaccess network.

The paper [6], entitled “Supporting Consumer Services in a DeterministicIndustrial Internet Core Networks”, shows that deterministiccommunications can reduce the buffer sizes in Internet routers by afactor of about 100,000 times. The paper [7], entitled “Securing theIndustrial-Tactile Internet of Things with Deterministic SiliconPhotonics Switches”, shows that deterministic communications can reducethe buffer sizes in Internet routers by a factor of about 1,000,000times. These dramatic reductions in buffer sizes, potentially between100,000 and 1,000,000 times, should enable the development of integratedoptical packet switches with Terabits per second (Tbps) of capacity inthe future, with dramatically reduced complexity compared toconventional Best-Effort switches and routers.

Previous deterministic or Guaranteed-Rate switch designs require that apacket-switch must process packet-headers, to determine the output portthat an arriving packet must be sent to. Processing packet-headers canbe a complex and costly process. For example, in a high-speed opticalnetwork the packets may arrive at data rates of 400 Gigabits per second(Gbps). An IPv4 packet with about 1500 bytes may arrive on a 400 Gbpslink every 30 nanoseconds. The input port of a switch must process thepacket-headers a rate of about one header every 30 nanoseconds, or about33 million packet-headers per second. A switch with 64 input ports musttherefore process packet-headers at a rate of about 2.1 billion packetheaders per second. If the link data rates increase to potentially 4Terabits per second, a switch with 64 input ports would have to processpacket-headers at a rate of about 21 billion packet-headers per second,representing an extreme challenge to future high-speed optical networks.

Using IPv4 networks, the work to identify the traffic flow from apacket-header is complex. Several fields in the IPv4 packet must beprocessed: (i) the source IP address (with 32 bits), (ii) thedestination IP address (with 32 bits), and typically (iii) the versionfield (with 4 bits). The processing of this many bits, at the rate ofbillions of packet-headers per second, will require an excessive amountof high-speed hardware logic and memory, which is very expensive andconsumes considerable power. It is potentially impossible to fit thismuch high-speed logic into a single integrated circuit.

Using IPv6 networks, the work to identify the traffic flow from apacket-header is somewhat simpler. Only one field in the IPv6 packetmust be processed; (i) the label field (with 20 bits). A 20 bit labelcan identify 1 millions flows. Typically, when an IPv6 packet arrives ata router, the label is extracted and used to read a Flow-Table, a memorymodule with up to 1 million rows. The Flow-Table returns the desiredoutput port, and optionally a new 20-bit label to be written into thepacket header when the packet leaves the switch. The use of flow-labelsreduces the complexity of processing internet protocol packets in layer3.

In an optical network, the Flow-Table must be extremely fast. Using 400Gbps links, the first 400 bits of the packet will arrive in 1nanosecond. The switch must extract a flow-label, and search for theflow-label in a very high-speed Flow-Table memory, with potentially 1million entries. (A content-addressable memory design is often used, butthis design is expensive). The Flow-Table should return the desiredoutput port quickly, i.e., about 1 nanosecond, before too many more bitsarrive. The design of an extremely high-speed Flow-Table memory with upto 1 million entries, which can respond within about 1 nanosecond, is achallenging task.

The paper [15] by Bolla et al, entitled “Energy Efficiency in the FutureInternet: A survey of existing approaches and trends in energy-awarefixed network infrastructures”, discusses the energy used to processpacket headers. According to this paper, the processing ofpacket-headers will consume about 60% of the power of an Internetrouter's data-forwarding hardware. Recall the Cisco CRS-3 core router,which was summarized earlier. One chassis has a peak capacity of 4.48Tbps, it weighs about 1,630 pounds, and it consumes about 7.7 kW ofpower. A noticeable fraction of this power goes to maintaining anexcessive large very high-speed memory to buffer potentially millions ofpackets. According to the paper [15] by Bolla et al, approximately 60%of the router's power goes to processing the packet headers, to make arouting decision for each packet as it arrives.

In this paper, we present methods and hardware designs to significantlyreduce the complexity and power-consumption of packet-switches. Themethods and designs can reduce the excessively large packet buffers usedin Best-Effort Internet routers, by a factor of potentially 100,000 to1,000,000 times. The dramatic reductions in buffer sizes should enablethe development of integrated optical packet-switches with Terabits persecond (Tbps) of capacity in the future, which fit on a singleintegrated circuit package. According to the paper [7], “Securing theIndustrial-Tactile Internet of Things with Deterministic SiliconPhotonics Switches”, an integrated single-chip optical packet-switch canalso reduce Internet energy use by a factor of 100 to 1,000 times. Themethods and designs proposed in this document can also remove the needto process packet-headers in a packet-switch or Internet router,potentially savings about 60% of a router's power consumption.

The proposed methods and designs will simultaneously achievedeterministic delay and jitter guarantees for provisionedGuaranteed-Rate traffic flows in a packet-switched network. Aprovisioned traffic flow is assigned to one or more paths through thenetwork, where sufficient bandwidth has been reserved in advance(provisioned) for the flow on each link and each switch traversed by thetraffic flow. The routing of paths through the network must be done sothat no bandwidth capacity constraints are exceeded. (Every input portand output port of a switch, and every link between switches, has abandwidth capacity constraint which cannot be exceeded.) The methods andhardware designs can be applied to both optical networks and 5G wirelessnetworks. Specifically, the methods and hardware designs can be appliedto general networks, including Internet Protocol (IP) network, ATMnetworks, MPLS networks, Ethernet Networks, Infiniband network, opticalnetworks and 5G wireless mesh networks.

Due to the dramatic reduction in complexity, deterministic orGuaranteed-rate switches and routers can cost less to build, they can besmaller, they can have higher performance and higher energy efficiency.Networks using these proposed methods and designs can operate theirswitches and links at essentially 100% of their peak capacity, and thereis no need for significant over-provisioning to achieveQuality-of-Service (QoS) or performance guarantees. Therefore, the useof Deterministic or Guaranteed-Rate packet switching can savepotentially $37 Billion US per year in wasted capital costs, andpotentially more in the future.

The significant reductions in complexity and buffer sizes ofdeterministic packet-switches should enable the implementation of asingle-chip integrated electronic packet switch within a decade, whichcan be realized on an electronic integrated circuit. FPGAs (FieldProgrammable Gate Arrays) are electronic integrated circuits, where thefunctionality can be programmed by the user in the field usingComputer-Aided Design Tools (CAD) tools. FPGA devices are produced inquantities of millions of devices per year, and their cost is relativelylow. An ASIC (‘Application-Specific Integrated Circuit’) is another typeof integrated circuit, where the functionality is embedded into thehardware. ASIC devices can also be produced in quantities of millions ofdevices per year, but their cost is typically higher than FPGAs.

Our proposed methods and designs will offer dramatic reductions in thecomplexity of deterministic packet-switches, thereby allowing theseswitches to be realized using an FPGA or ASIC integrated circuit. Theseintegrated circuits are placed in a package, for example a Ball GridArray (BGA) package, which can typically receive and transmit electronicdata at a rate of a few Tbps. Using the techniques proposed in thisdocument, a reduced-complexity deterministic electronic packet-switchwith a capacity of a few Tbps can fit on a single FPGA or ASIC, whichcan be packaged into a conventional integrated circuit package, i.e., aBGA package. A single electronic integrated circuit can have potentiallythe same capacity (about 4.48 Tbps), as the Cisco CRS-3 router chassiswhich weights 1,640 pounds and consumes about 7.7 kW of power.

Our proposed methods and designs will offer significant reductions incomplexity and buffer sizes, which will also enable the implementationof an integrated ‘All-Optical’ packet switch. All-Opticalpacket-switches will buffer and process packets in the optical domain,without conversion to and from the electrical domain. The amount ofbuffering feasible in an all-optical switch is limited to a very smallnumber of packets, for example a few hundred packets per switch. Forexample, an optical packet can be buffered in a loop of fiber where thepacket is recirculated until it is needed. Alternatively, paper [22]illustrates that the company NTT in Japan has recently developed anintegrated circuit which can buffer a few hundred bits of informationoptically. Our methods and designs will offer a reduced-complexitydeterministic all-optical packet, which will enable an entireall-optical switch to fit on one integrated circuit in the future.

Silicon-Photonics is a new integrated circuit technology, which canprocess both electronic data and optical data, and it can easily convertdata between the electrical and optical domains. This technology isdescribed in paper [20] entitled “Silicon Photonics for Next GenerationSystem Integration Platform”, and paper [21] entitled “Silicon-CMOSIntegrated Nano-Photonics for Computer and Data-Communications Beyond100G”. A Silicon-Photonics integrated circuit is manufactured usingtraditional CMOS manufacturing technologies, and can be produced inlarge volumes of millions of devices per year, with relatively lowcosts. Many integrated Ethernet packet transmitter-and-receivercircuits, called ‘Ethernet Transceivers’, are commercially manufacturedusing Silicon-Photonics technologies. However, integrated packetswitches using Silicon Photonics have not been manufactured to date,since the complex issues of buffer sizing, packet scheduling, packetformatting, and packet routing which occur in a Best-Effort packetswitch have never been adequately addressed. Our proposed methods anddesigns eliminate all the outstanding complex issues in the design of aBest-Effort packet-switch, by resorting to a far simpler deterministic(or Guaranteed-Rate) optical packet switch design.

Intel has recently developed a low-cost technology in which multipleCMOS integrated circuit die can be placed on one packaging substrate,such as BGA package. Another CMOS integrated circuit is used as an‘electronic bridge’ to interconnect the die, with thousands ofhigh-speed low-energy electronic wires. Our proposed method and designswill allow for the development of an integrated deterministicpacket-switch on a single integrated circuit package, such as a BGApackage. In this design, several Silicon-Photonics transceiver die canbe combined with one or more FPGA or ASIC die, to form an integratedoptical packet-switch. The transceivers convert between the electricaland optical domains, and the FPGAs or ASICs perform the packetprocessing and switching in the electronic domain. All these integratedcircuits can be placed into a single low-cost integrated circuitpackage, such as a BGA package.

According to the paper [7], “Securing the Industrial-Tactile Internet ofThings using Deterministic Silicon Photonic Switches”, cyber-securityremains an outstanding challenge for the Internet in the 21-st century.Our proposed designs will offer significant increase in the level ofprotection from cyber-attacks. Using our proposed methods and designs,the arrival times of authorized packets on a link are pre-determined bythe use of periodic schedules. Therefore, it is possible to detect anunauthorized packet from a cyber-attacker. A schedule of arrivingpackets and their time-slots at each switch can be precomputed in theSDN control-plane, which has a global view of the network and hassufficient knowledge to compute such a schedule. The SDN control-planecan then send each switch the arrival schedule for each input port. (Itis impossible for a switch, in isolation, to compute such schedulessince it does not have enough information.) Any packet that arrivesduring a time-slot for which no packet arrival is scheduled, must beun-authorized and must be from a cyber-attacker. If too many packets arereceived from a Guaranteed-Rate traffic flow, then some packets must beunauthorized and may come from a cyber-attacker. A controller can notifythe SDN control-plane whenever an unauthorized packet is received. Forexample, it will be impossible for a cyber-attacker to create a ‘Denialof Service’ (DOS) attack, since a cyber-attacker cannot transmit anypackets on any link without detection. A DOS attack generally involvesflooding a network with unauthorized packets, and this is not possiblein a deterministic network.

SUMMARY

In one aspect, there is provided a method of operating a plurality ofswitches within a packet-switched network that delivers pre-establishedGuaranteed-Rate (GR) traffic flows, each of said plurality of switchescomprising N input ports; M output ports; N×M queues, wherein each ofsaid N input ports is associated with M of said N×M queues and each ofsaid M output ports is associated with N of said N×M queues, and whereineach of said N×M queues buffers packets from a particular one of said Ninput ports destined to a particular one of said M output ports; whereineach of said N×M queues is further partitioned into a set offlow-queues, wherein each of said flow-queue buffers packets that belongto a distinct traffic flow across said network, and wherein each of saidflow-queues is associated with a guaranteed data-rate; a first memory, asecond memory, said method comprising; for each switch of said pluralityof switches, determining which of said GR traffic flows will arrive ateach of said N input ports of that switch, and which of said GR trafficflows will depart on each of said M output ports of that switch, in eachtime-slot of a scheduling frame; determining for each input port of saidN input ports at that switch, a first periodic schedule that identifieswhich of said M queues to buffer each arriving packet for that inputport, based upon the arrival time-slot of that arriving packet withinsaid scheduling frame; determining for each of said N input ports atthat switch, a second periodic schedule that identifies which of theflow-queues to buffer each arriving packet for that input queue, basedupon the arrival time-slot of that arriving packet within saidscheduling frame; storing the first periodic schedules for each of saidN input ports in said first memory of that switch; storing theappropriate one of said second periodic schedules for each of said Ninput ports in said second memory of that switch.

In another aspect, there is provided a deterministic packet switch forswitching plurality of guaranteed-rate traffic flows over a set ofoutput ports, over a scheduling frame comprising F time-slots, withoutprocessing packet headers, comprising: N input ports, M output ports, aswitching matrix to interconnect said N input ports and said M outputports comprising N×M queues, wherein each of said N input ports isassociated with M of said N×M queues and each of said M output ports isassociated with N of said N×M queues, and wherein each of said N×Mqueues buffers packets from a particular one of said N input portsdestined to a particular one of said M output ports; wherein each ofsaid N×M queues is partitioned into a set of flow-queues, wherein eachof said flow-queues buffers packets which belong to a distinct one ofsaid guaranteed rate traffic flows; a first memory for storing aperiodic first-schedule, wherein said periodic first-schedule specifieswhich of said M queues associated with an input port, if any, is enabledto receive and buffer a packet in each time-slot in said schedulingframe; a second memory for storing a periodic second-schedule, whereinsaid second-schedule specifies which of the flow-queues in a queue ofsaid N×M queues, if any, is enabled to receive and buffer a packet ineach time-slot in said scheduling frame, a master-controller operable toexchange control packets with a network control plane, wherein saidmaster-controller can configure said first memory with said periodicfirst schedule, and said second memory with said periodic secondschedule; wherein said first-schedule provides each queue with aguaranteed number of time-slot reservations for receiving packets in ascheduling frame, sufficient to satisfy a guaranteed data-rate assignedto that queue, wherein said second-schedule provides each flow-queuewith a guaranteed number of time-slot reservations for receiving packetsin a scheduling frame, sufficient to satisfy the guaranteed data ratefor the distinct one of said guaranteed flows buffered from whichpackets are buffered in that flow-queue.

In yet another aspect, there is provided a deterministic packet switchfor switching the packets of a plurality of guaranteed-rate trafficflows over a set of output ports, over a scheduling frame comprising Ftime-slots for integer F, without processing packet headers, comprising:N input ports, M output ports, N×M queues, wherein each of said N inputports is associated with M of said N×M queues and each of said M outputports is associated with N of said N×M queues, and wherein each of saidN×M queues buffers packets from a particular one of said N input portsdestined to a particular one of said M output ports wherein each of saidN×M queues is further partitioned into a set of flow-queues, whereineach of said flow-queue buffers packets that belong to a distinct one ofsaid guaranteed rate traffic flows; a switch for interconnecting saidinput ports to said output ports, a first memory storing a periodicfirst-schedule, wherein said periodic first-schedule specifies which ofsaid N×M queues associated with an input port, if any, is enabled toreceive and buffer a packet in each time-slot in said scheduling frame,based upon the arrival time of that packet in said scheduling frame; asecond memory storing a periodic second-schedule, wherein saidsecond-schedule specifies which of the flow-queues in a queue of saidN×M queues, if any, is enabled to receive and buffer a packet in eachtime-slot in said scheduling frame, based upon the arrival time thatpacket in said scheduling frame, a master-controller operable toexchange control packets with a network control plane, wherein saidmaster-controller can configure said first memory with said periodicfirst schedule, and said second memory with said periodic secondschedule; wherein said first-schedule provides each queue with aguaranteed number of time-slot reservations for receiving packets in ascheduling frame, sufficient to satisfy a guaranteed data-rate assignedto that queue, wherein said second-schedule provides each flow-queuewith a guaranteed number of time-slot reservations for receiving packetsin a scheduling frame, sufficient to satisfy the guaranteed data ratefor the distinct one of said guaranteed flows buffered from whichpackets are buffered in that flow-queue.

In one embodiment, a method to remove the need to process packet-headersto extract routing information in a deterministic packet switch isprovided. The deterministic packet switch can provide deterministic orguaranteed-rate service to traffic flows. The switch contains N inputports, M output ports and N*M Virtual Output Queues (VOQs). Packets areassociated with a traffic flow, which arrive on an input port and departon an output port, according to a predetermined routing. These packetsare buffered in a VOQ. The switch has controllers which can beconfigured to store several deterministic periodic schedules, which canbe configured by an SDN control-plane. A first deterministic periodicschedule can determine for every input port at which time-slots packetsmay arrive, for every time-slot in a scheduling frame. This schedule canalso identify the VOQ to buffer each arriving packet. A seconddeterministic periodic schedule can identify which Flow-VOQ within a VOQshould receive the arriving packet, in each time-slot. The need toprocess packet-headers in real-time is eliminated. The memory to storethe deterministic periodic schedules can operate at relatively slowclock rates, and is therefore much less complex than the very fastmemory used in traditional Flow-Tables. A controller can monitor thepacket arrivals to detect unauthorized packets from a cyber-attacker,and inform the SDN control-plane.

In another embodiment, a reduced-complexity integrated electronic packetswitch which can provide deterministic or guaranteed-rate service totraffic flows and traffic classes is described. The switch contains Ninput ports, M output ports and N*M Virtual Output Queues (VOQs).Packets are associated with a traffic flow or traffic class, whicharrive on an input port and depart on an output port, according to apredetermined routing. These packets are buffered in a VOQ. The switchhas controllers which can be configured to store several deterministicperiodic schedules, which can be configured by an SDN control-plane. Afirst deterministic periodic transmission schedule can determine whichVOQs are enabled to transmit, for every time interval in a schedulinginterval. A second deterministic periodic schedule can identify whichFlow-VOQ within a VOQ is enabled to transmit, in each time interval. AFlow-Table can be used to identify to which VOQ an arriving packet (ifany) is destined. A controller can monitor the packet arrivals anddepartures to detect unauthorized packets from a cyber-attacker, andinform the SDN control-plane. Each traffic flow or traffic class canreceive a deterministic and guaranteed-rate of transmission through theswitch. Buffer sizes can be reduced by a factor of potentially 100,000to 1,000,000 times, compared to conventional Best-Effort routers. Theuse of flow labels and a Flow-Table also reduces header processing to aminimum. The entire switch can be realized on one electronic integratedcircuit package.

In another embodiment, a reduced-complexity integrated electronic packetswitch which can provide deterministic or guaranteed-rate service totraffic flows is described. The switch contains N input ports, M outputports and N*M Virtual Output Queues (VOQs). Packets are associated witha flow or traffic class, which arrive on an input port and depart on anoutput port, according to a predetermined routing. These packets arebuffered in a VOQ. The switch has controllers which can be configured tostore several deterministic periodic schedules, which can be configuredby an SDN control-plane. A first deterministic periodic transmissionschedule can determine which VOQs are enabled to transmit, for everytime interval in a scheduling interval. A second deterministic periodicschedule can identify which Flow-VOQ within a VOQ is enabled totransmit, in each time interval. A third deterministic periodic schedulecan be used to identify to which VOQ an arriving packet (if any) isdestined. A fourth deterministic periodic schedule can be used toidentify to which Flow-VOQ within a VOQ an arriving packet (if any) isdestined. A controller can monitor the packet arrivals and departures todetect unauthorized packets from a cyber-attacker, and inform the SDNcontrol-plane. Each traffic flow or traffic class can receive adeterministic and guaranteed-rate of transmission through the switch.Buffer sizes can be reduced by a factor of potentially 100,000 to1,000,000 times, compared to conventional Best-Effort routers. Allpacket header processing is eliminated, resulting in a significantreduction in complexity. The entire switch can be realized on oneelectronic integrated circuit package.

In another embodiment, a reduced-complexity integrated photonic packetswitch which can provide deterministic or guaranteed-rate service totraffic flows and traffic classes is described. The switch contains Ninput ports, M output ports and N*M Virtual Output Queues (VOQs). Theinput and output ports are realized using one or more Silicon Photonicstransceivers. The switching function is implemented on an FPGA or ASIC.Packets are associated with a flow or a class, which arrive an inputport and depart on an output port, according to a predetermined routing.These packets are buffered in a specific VOQ. The switch can beconfigured to store several deterministic periodic schedules, which canbe configured by an SDN control-plane. A first deterministic periodictransmission schedule can determine which VOQs are enabled to transmit,for every time interval in a scheduling interval. A second deterministicperiodic schedule can identify which Flow-VOQ within a VOQ is enabled totransmit, in each time interval. A Flow-Table can be used to identify towhich VOQ and to which Flow-VOQ an arriving packet (if any) is destined.A controller can monitor the packet arrivals and departures to detectunauthorized packets from a cyber-attacker, and inform the SDNcontrol-plane. Each traffic flow or traffic class can receive adeterministic and guaranteed-rate of transmission through the switch.Buffer sizes can be reduced by a factor of potentially 100,000 to1,000,000 times, compared to conventional Best-Effort routers. The useof flow labels and a Flow-Table also reduces header processing to aminimum. The entire photonic packet switch can be realized on oneintegrated circuit package, which contains the Silicon Photonicstransceiver die and the FPGA or ASIC die.

In another embodiment, a reduced-complexity integrated photonic packetswitch which can provide deterministic or guaranteed-rate service totraffic flows is described. The switch contains N input ports, M outputports and N*M Virtual Output Queues (VOQs). The input and output portsare realized using Silicon Photonics transceivers. The switchingfunction is implemented on an FPGA or ASIC. Packets are associated witha flow, which arrive an input port and depart on an output port,according to a predetermined routing. These packets are buffered in aspecific VOQ. The switch can be configured to store severaldeterministic periodic schedules, which can be configured by an SDNcontrol-plane. A first deterministic periodic transmission schedule candetermine which VOQs are enabled to transmit, for every time interval ina scheduling interval. A second deterministic periodic schedule canidentify which Flow-VOQ within a VOQ is enabled to transmit, in eachtime interval. A third deterministic periodic schedule is used toidentify to which VOQ an arriving packet (if any) is destined. A fourthdeterministic periodic schedule can be used to identify to whichFlow-VOQ within a VOQ an arriving packet (if any) is destined. Acontroller can monitor the packet arrivals and departures to detectunauthorized packets from a cyber-attacker, and inform the SDNcontrol-plane. Each traffic flow can receive a deterministic andguaranteed-rate of transmission through the switch. Buffer sizes can bereduced by a factor of potentially 100,000 to 1,000,000 times, comparedto conventional Best-Effort routers. All packet header processing iseliminated, resulting in a significant reduction in complexity. Theentire photonic switch can be realized on one integrated circuitpackage, which contains the Silicon Photonics transceiver die and theFPGA or ASIC die.

In another embodiment, a reduced-complexity all-optical packet switchwhich can provide deterministic or guaranteed-rate service to trafficflows is described. The switch contains N input ports, and M outputports, where each input port has a plurality of packet buffers. Thesecomponents are implement entirely in the optical domain. Packets areassociated with traffic flows, which arrive an input port and depart onan output port, according to a predetermined routing. At each inputport, the packets are buffered in a packet buffer in the optical domain.The switch has electronic controllers which can be configured to storeseveral deterministic periodic schedules, which can be configured by anSDN control-plane. A first deterministic periodic transmission schedulecan determine which input ports are enabled to transmit, for every timeinterval in a scheduling interval. A second deterministic periodicschedule can identify which packet buffer within an input port isenabled to transmit, in each time interval. A third deterministicperiodic schedule can be used to identify to which packet buffer anarriving packet (if any) is destined. A controller can monitor thepacket arrivals to detect unauthorized packets from a cyber-attacker,and inform the SDN control-plane. Each traffic flow can receive adeterministic and guaranteed-rate of transmission through the switch.Buffer sizes can be reduced by a factor of potentially 100,000 to1,000,000 times, compared to conventional Best-Effort routers. Allpacket header processing is eliminated, resulting in a significantreduction in complexity.

In another embodiment, a reduced-complexity integrated photonic packetswitch which can provide deterministic or guaranteed-rate service totraffic flows and traffic classes, and which provides a significantprotection from cyber-attacks, is described. The switch contains N inputports, M output ports and N*M Virtual Output Queues (VOQs). The inputand output ports are realized using one or more Silicon Photonicstransceivers. The switching function is implemented on an FPGA or ASIC.Packets are associated with a flow or a class, which arrive an inputport and depart on an output port, according to a predetermined routing.These packets are buffered in a specific VOQ. The switch can beconfigured to store several deterministic periodic schedules, which canbe configured by an SDN control-plane. A first deterministic periodictransmission schedule can determine which VOQs are enabled to transmit,for every time interval in a scheduling interval. A second deterministicperiodic schedule can identify which Flow-VOQ within a VOQ is enabled totransmit, in each time interval. A Flow-Table can be used to identify towhich VOQ and to which Flow-VOQ an arriving packet (if any) is destined.A controller can monitor the packet arrivals and departures to detectunauthorized packets from a cyber-attacker, and inform the SDNcontrol-plane. Each traffic flow or traffic class can receive adeterministic and guaranteed-rate of transmission through the switch.Buffer sizes can be reduced by a factor of potentially 100,000 to1,000,000 times, compared to conventional Best-Effort routers. The useof flow labels and a Flow-Table also reduces header processing to aminimum. The entire photonic packet switch can be realized on oneintegrated circuit package, which contains the Silicon Photonicstransceiver die and the FPGA or ASIC die.

In another embodiment, a reduced-complexity integrated photonic packetswitch which can provide deterministic or guaranteed-rate service totraffic flows, and which provides a significant protection fromcyber-attacks, is described. The switch contains N input ports, M outputports and N*M Virtual Output Queues (VOQs). The input and output portsare realized using Silicon Photonics transceivers. The switchingfunction is implemented on an FPGA or ASIC. Packets are associated witha flow, which arrive an input port and depart on an output port,according to a predetermined routing. These packets are buffered in aspecific VOQ. The switch can be configured to store severaldeterministic periodic schedules, which can be configured by an SDNcontrol-plane. A first deterministic periodic transmission schedule candetermine which VOQs are enabled to transmit, for every time interval ina scheduling interval. A second deterministic periodic schedule canidentify which Flow-VOQ within a VOQ is enabled to transmit, in eachtime interval. A third deterministic periodic schedule is used toidentify to which VOQ an arriving packet (if any) is destined. A fourthdeterministic periodic schedule is used to identify to which Flow-VOQ anarriving packet (if any) is destined. A controller can monitor thepacket arrivals and departures to detect unauthorized packets from acyber-attacker, and inform the SDN control-plane. Each traffic flow ortraffic class can receive a deterministic and guaranteed-rate oftransmission through the switch. Buffer sizes can be reduced by a factorof potentially 100,000 to 1,000,000 times, compared to conventionalBest-Effort routers. All packet header processing is eliminated,resulting in a significant reduction in complexity. The entire photonicswitch can be realized on one integrated circuit package, which containsthe Silicon Photonics transceiver die and the FPGA or ASIC die.

Other aspects and features of the present invention will become apparentto those of ordinary skill in the art upon review of the followingdescription of specific embodiments of the invention in conjunction withthe accompanying figures.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The figures illustrate by way of example only, embodiments of thepresent invention.

FIG. 1A shows a CIOQ switch (Combined Input and Output Queues). FIG. 1Bshows an IQ switch (Input Queues). FIG. 1C shows a CIXOQ switch(Combined Input, Crosspoint and Output Queues.)

FIG. 2 shows the organization of a Virtual Output Queue (VOQ) withseveral sub-queues, i.e., Flow-VOQs and Class-VOQs.

FIG. 3A shows an embodiment of a reduced-complexity IQ switch. FIG. 3Bshows an embodiment of a reduced-complexity XQ switch. FIG. 3C showsanother embodiment of a reduced-complexity IQ switch. FIG. 3D showsanother embodiment of a reduced-complexity XQ switch.

FIGS. 4A and 4B illustrate a method to eliminate the need to processpacket-headers.

FIG. 5A illustrates the typical packet format of an Ethernet packet.FIG. 5B illustrates the typical packet format of an IPv4 packet. FIG. 5Cillustrates the typical format of IPv6 packet header.

FIG. 6A illustrates a network of switches and routers, which operates atlayer 3.

FIG. 6B illustrates a network of switches and routers, which operates atboth layers 3 and 2.

FIG. 7 illustrates a traffic matrix of guaranteed rates to be supportedin a deterministic packet-switch.

FIG. 8A illustrates an embodiment of an all-optical packet switch. FIG.8B illustrates another embodiment of an all-optical packet switch.

FIG. 9A shows a Flow-Table which processes flow-labels extracted from apacket header. FIG. 9B shows a Flow-Table which aggregates many flowsinto 1 flow.

FIG. 9C shows a deterministic schedule, which can replace the veryhigh-speed Flow-Table in FIG. 9B.

FIG. 10A illustrates an integrated circuit package which can contain anFPGA or ASIC die, interconnected to a Silicon-Photonics transceiver die,using a bridge die. FIG. 10B illustrates an integrated circuit packagewhich can contain an FPGA or ASIC die, interconnected to aSilicon-Photonics transceiver die, using an interposer substrate.

FIG. 11A illustrates a schedule for a queue, which uses a discrete-timemodel.

FIG. 11B illustrates a schedule for a queue, which uses acontinuous-time model.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

FIG. 1

A deterministic packet-switch with Combined Input Queues (IQ) and OutputQueues (OQs) is shown in FIG. 1A. This switch is called a ‘DeterministicCombined Input and Output Queued’ (CIOQ) switch. The CIOQ switch (orInternet router) has N input ports (IPs) 10, M output ports (OPs) 40,and a unbuffered crossbar switch 30 to provide connections between theinput and output ports. The switch interconnects incoming fibers 2 andoutgoing fibers 4.

Each input port 10 has M ‘Virtual Output Queues’ (VOQs) 12. The M VOQsat input port 10(1) are identified with labels 12(1,1) . . . 12(1,M).Each VOQ 12(j,k) buffers packets which arrive at input port 10 j anddepart on output port 40 k, for 1<=j<=N, and 1<=k<=M. Each output port40 has N ‘Output Queues’ 42. The N output queues at output port 40(1)are identified with labels 42(1,1) . . . 42(N,1). Each output queue42(j,k) may buffer packets which arrive at input port 10 j and depart onoutput port 40 k, for 1<=j<=N, and 1<=k<=M.

Packets arrive at the input ports 10 on an optical fiber 2. Each inputport 10 has an optical-to-electrical (OE) receiver 6, and a packetbuffer 8 to receive and buffer a packet, which is forwarded to thecontroller 14. The controller 14 reads the packet-header to identify thetraffic flow. The controller 14 sends information extracted from thepacket-header to the Flow-Table 16. The Flow-Table 16 is a very fastmemory, which identifies to which output port 40 the packet should beforwarded to. Each VOQ buffers packets directed to a distinct outputport, so identifying the output port identifies the VOQ to buffer thepacket. The Flow-Table 16 may be organized as a Content-AddressableMemory, or as a Cache Memory to provide fast memory access. Thecontroller 14 can then control the demultiplexer 18, to forward thepacket to the correct VOQ 12.

A switch-controller 32 controls the switch 30, to establish connectionsbetween input ports 10 and output ports 40. Two constraints must be metin a CIOQ switch: (1) each input port 10 must be connected to at most 1output port, and (ii) each output port must be connected to at most 1input port. These two constraints make the scheduling problem hard.

Each Input Port 10 also has a controller 20 to control a multiplexer 22.When the switch-controller 32 establishes a connection between an inputport 10 and an output port 40, the controller 20 will select the VOQ fortransmission which buffers packets for the desired output port 40. Thedata to transmit can be a packet or a cell. The controller 20 willcontrol the multiplexer 22 to select the VOQ 12 for service, which canforward the data through the switch 30 to the output port 40.

The Internet network transports variable-size Internet Protocol packets.A large variable-size IP packet which arrives at an input port 10 may besegmented into smaller fixed-sized units of data called ‘cells’, fortransmission through a discrete-time switch, where time is split intotime-slots. (These cells can be viewed as small packets, which containsmall fragments of a larger IP packet.) The cells or packets arebuffered in the VOQs 12. Let a clock identify time-slots. In eachtime-slot, cells or packets are transmitted through the switch 30 fromthe input ports 10 to the output ports 40. At the output port 40, theoriginal variable-size Internet Protocol packet may be reconstructed inthe output queues 42.

The CIOQ switch can operate in a discrete-time manner with time-slots,or in a continuous-time manner without time-slots. A discrete-timeswitch operates with discrete time-slots, where a time-slot hassufficient duration to transmit a small IP packet or a cell from aninput port 10 to an output port 40. In contrast, in a continuous-timeswitch without time-slots, a variable-size packet may transmittedthrough the switch directly, without being segmented into smaller cells.

In a Best-Effort CIOQ switch which uses time-slots, theswitch-controller 32 can compute the connections to be establishedbetween the input ports 10 and output ports 40 using a sub-optimaliterative scheduling algorithm, for every time-slot. The iSLIPscheduling algorithm described in paper [18] is one example of aniterative scheduler.

At an output port 40, data (a cell or packet) which arrives is processedby a controller 44, which controls a de-multiplexer 46, which candeliver the data to the proper output queue 42. Variable-size InternetProtocol packets can be reconstructed from the smaller fixed-sized cellsat the output queues 42. A controller 48 can control a multiplexer 45 toselect a reassembled Internet Protocol packet for transmission. A packetselected for transmission from an output queue 42 may be sent to apacket buffer 47, and then sent to an electrical-to-optical (EO)transmitter 49, which sends the optical transmission on an output fiber4.

The proposed methods and designs to achieve a reduced-complexitypacket-switch can be applied to a deterministic CIOQ packet switch whichtransmits deterministic traffic flows, where each deterministic trafficflow has a Guaranteed Rate (GR) of transmission. In a deterministicdiscrete-time CIOQ switch, the switch-controller 32 can store aprecomputed or deterministic schedule of switch configurations, whichare valid for an interval of time called a Scheduling-Frame. AScheduling-Frame may consist of F time-slots, for a positive integer F.The deterministic-schedule may connect input ports 10 to output ports 40in each time-slot, so that a Guaranteed-Rate of transmission can beprovided from each input port to each output port. A fast recursivealgorithm to compute the deterministic schedule for a CIOQ switch isprovided in the patent [9] entitled “Method and Apparatus to SchedulePackets Through a Crossbar Switch with Delay Guarantees”, U.S. Pat. No.8,089,959 B2, January 2012.

The CIOQ switch can be controlled by a master-controller 34, whichreceives commands from an external entity called the SDN control-plane110 (not shown on FIG. 1A). (An SDN control-plane is shown in FIG. 6Bahead.) The master-controller 34 can receive control packets from theSDN control-plane over wires 36. The master-controller 34 can also sendcontrol packets to the SDN control-plane over wires 35. The wires 36 and35 may be connected to some input ports and output ports of the switch(these connections are not shown in FIG. 1).

FIG. 1B illustrates a switch with Input Queues. The IQ switch is similarto the CIOQ switch in FIG. 1A, except that the output ports 40 arereplaced with simpler output ports 41, which do not contain outputqueues 42. A packet which arrives at the output port 41 can be receivedin the packet buffer 47, and then sent to an EO transmitter 49, whichsends the optical transmission on an output fiber 4. (In thisreduced-complexity design, packets are not segmented into cells andpackets are not reassembled from cells. This design is suitable for alayer 2 transport network.)

FIG. 1C illustrates a CIXOQ switch, which uses a Combination of InputQueues, Crosspoint Queues and Output Queues. The N×M CIXOQ switch shownin FIG. 1C has N Input Ports 10, M Output Ports 40, and a bufferedcrossbar switch 52 interconnecting these input ports 10 and output ports40. The operation of the input ports 10 and output ports 40 has beenexplained in CIOQ switch in FIG. 1, and this behaviour is the same inthe CIXOQ switch.

The buffered crossbar switch 52 has N rows and M columns, where theintersection of each row and column contains a crosspoint buffer 55.Each input port 10 is connected to one row of the switch 52, through awire (or transmission line) 51. Each output port 40 is connected to onecolumn of the switch 52, through a wire (or transmission line) 53. Eachinput port 10 can transmit data into the switch 52 through a wire 51.(The data can be an Internet Protocol packet or a cell.) Each outputport 40 can receive data from the switch 52 on a vertical wire 53. Inswitch 52, each row has a controller 56, to control a demultiplexer 57,to send incoming data arriving on wire 51 to the correct crosspointbuffer 55 in the row. Alternatively, the multiplexer 57 can also becontrolled by the controller 20, since there is a one-to-onecorrespondence between VOQs 12 and crosspoint buffers 55. (There are N*MVOQs, and there are N*M crosspoint buffers.) Each column has acontroller 58, which controls a multiplexer 61, to select a crosspointbuffer 55 to send data to the output port 40, over an outgoing wire 53.

In a Best-Effort CIXOQ switch, the controller 20 can select one VOQ 12to transmit data into the switch 52, according to some Best-Effortsub-optimal algorithm. Similarly, the controller 58 can select an XQ 55to transmit data to an output port 40, according to some Best-Effortsub-optimal algorithm. A typical Best-Effort sub-optimal algorithm willselect the VOQ or crosspoint buffer with the largest amount of data toservice next. Such an algorithm is sub-optimal since it does notconsider past or future traffic demands, and the switch will have poorsub-optimal performance.

The switch in FIG. 1C can also be operated in a deterministic manner. Adeterministic CIXOQ packet switch will transmit deterministic trafficflows, where each deterministic traffic flow has a Guaranteed Rate (GR)of transmission. In a deterministic CIXOQ switch, all the controllers20, 56 and 58 should operate according to deterministic pre-computedperiodic schedules. Methods to compute deterministic periodic schedulesfor the CIXOQ switch have been presented in [12], entitled “CrossbarSwitch and Recursive Scheduling”, U.S. Pat. No. 8,503,440 B2, Aug. 6,2013.

For example, in each input port 10, the controller 20 can have memory tostore a pre-computed deterministic transmission schedule, which is validfor Scheduling Frame which consists of F time-slots, for a positiveinteger F. The deterministic transmission schedule in each input port 10will connect that input port to the switch 52, so that a Guaranteed-Rateof transmission can be provided from that input port to the crosspointbuffers 55 in switch 52, sufficient to satisfy the Guaranteed-Ratedemands of the VOQs 12 associated with that input port 10. A fastrecursive algorithm to compute the deterministic transmission schedulefor each input port 10 in an CIXOQ switch is provided in reference [12],entitled “Crossbar Switch and Recursive Scheduling”, U.S. Pat. No.8,503,440 B2, Aug. 6, 2013.

Similarly, in a deterministic CIXOQ switch, in each column of the switch52, the controller 58 can contain memory, to store a pre-computeddeterministic periodic schedule. The deterministic schedule will specifywhich crosspoint buffer 55 is enabled to transmit data to the outputport 42, in each time-slot of a scheduling frame, so that aGuaranteed-Rate of transmission can be provided from the crosspointbuffers 55 to the output ports 40.

In FIG. 1C, the CIXOQ switch also has a master-controller 34, which canreceive control packets from an SDN control-plane 110 (not shown in FIG.1C) over wires 36. The master-controller 34 can also send controlpackets to the SDN control-plane over wires 35. The wires 36 and 35 aretypically connected to some input ports and output ports (these connectsare not shown in FIG. 2). The master-controller 34 can configure thecontrollers 20, 56 and 58, with the pre-computed deterministic periodicschedules. These schedules can be computed in the SDN control-plane, andsent to the master-controller 34 in control packets. Alternatively, theSDN control-plane can send the traffic demand matrix for the switch,which specifies the traffic demands from input ports to output ports, tothe master-controller 34. The master-controller 34 can then compute thedeterministic periodic schedules, and configure the controllers 20, 56and 58. (A traffic demand matrix is shown in FIG. 7 ahead.)

FIG. 2—A VOQ with Sub-Queues

FIG. 2 illustrates the internal structure of a VOQ 12. The VOQ 12 canhave zero or more Class-VOQs 70 to store data (packets or cells) whichbelong to a traffic class. Each Class-VOQ 70 can store the data whichbelongs to one traffic class, which arrive on a specific input port anddepart on a specific output port. Specifically, each Class-queue 70 canstore packets from several traffic flows, perhaps thousands or millionsof traffic flows, which all belong to the same traffic class. EachClass-OQ 70 can receive a Guaranteed-Rate of service in a deterministicswitch. However, the individual traffic flows within the Class-VOQ arenot selected for service on an individual basis. For example, the datain a Class-VOQ could be selected for service using a ‘First-ComeFirst-Served’ algorithm. Class-VOQs can improve the scalability ofdeterministic switches and networks, by grouping thousands or millionsof different traffic flows into one common traffic class, and byproviding a Guaranteed-Rate of service for each traffic class in eachdeterministic switch.

A VOQ 12 in FIG. 2 can also have zero or more Flow-VOQs, 80 a . . . 80g. A Flow-VOQ 80 stores the data (packets or cells) of one specific GRtraffic flow. For example, all the traffic from one city A to anothercity B could be aggregated into one traffic flow, and this traffic flowcan be assigned a Guaranteed-Rate of transmission. An SDN control-planecan allocate a Flow-VOQ 80 for this traffic flow, in each switch ittraverses in the path from city A to city B.

A VOQ 12 can have a controller 72, to control a demultiplexer 74, whichcan direct incoming data to the correct sub-queue within the VOQ, eithera Class-VOQ 70 or Flow-VOQ 80. The VOQ can have a controller 76, whichcontrols a multiplexer 78, which can remove data from a Class-VOQ 70 ora Flow-VOQ 80, within the VOQ.

In practice a VOQ may reside in one memory block, where a controller(not shown) can implement the sub-queues 70 and 80 by partitioning thelarge VOQ memory into several smaller virtual queues. Hence, thecontrollers 72 and 76 and the demultiplexer 74 and the multiplexer 78can be ‘virtual’ and exist as logical abstractions, in the same memoryblock.

In a Best-Effort switch, these controllers 72 and 76 can use Best-Effortsub-optimal algorithms to select queues for service. For example, thequeue with the largest number of packets could be selected for service.In a deterministic switch, these controllers can store optimizeddeterministic periodic schedules. These controllers must provide eachClass-VOQ 80 with its guaranteed-rate of service, and they must provideeach Flow-VOQ 70 with its guaranteed-rate of service.

The simplest VOQ can consist of one Class-VOQ and no Flow-VOQs. In thiscase, the VOQ is simplified since the controller 72, demultiplexer 74,the controller 76 and multiplexer 78 are not needed. This VOQ wouldsupport only 1 traffic class, and can be used in packet-switches whereminimum complexity is necessary, for example an all-opticalpacket-switch.

FIG. 3A, a Reduced-Complexity IQ Switch

FIG. 3A illustrates one embodiment of the proposed method and designsdisclosed in this document, a reduced-complexity deterministic packetswitch using Input Queues (IQs). A switch has N simplified input ports15, and M simplified output ports 41. Each input port is connected to anincoming optical fiber 2. Each simplified output port 41 is connected toan outgoing fiber 4.

The switch in FIG. 3A is similar to the IQ switch in FIG. 1B, except for2 main changes. The switch in FIG. 3A uses much simpler input ports 15,which do not require a very fast and expensive Flow-Table 16. The switchin FIG. 3A also uses a new controller 17 (which replaces the oldcontroller 14.) This controller has internal memory (not shown) to storea deterministic schedule, which identifies the output port used by anarriving packet, based upon the packet's arrive time-slot in ascheduling frame. The controller 17 must maintain a time-slot counterinternally (not shown) to count time-slots in a scheduling-frame. In ascheduling-frame with F time-slots, the time-slot counter will countfrom 1 to F repeatedly. The counter starts counting from 1 for each newscheduling frame. (This counter must be synchronized to the schedulingframe which contains the arriving packets. To achieve synchronization, adeterministic switch can send a ‘start-of-scheduling-frame’ signal atthe beginning of each scheduling frame.)

In a deterministic network, the flow-label of packet which arrives at adeterministic switch at time-slot j of a Scheduling Frame, for 1<=j<=F,is predetermined. Hence, at each input port a flow-label and aFlow-Table are not needed to select a VOQ to receive the packet. The VOQto receive the packet is predetermined by the deterministic nature ofthe network. Therefore, an SDN control-plane (not shown) can configurethe controller 17 with deterministic periodic schedules, whichidentifies the VOQ 12, and the Class-VOQ 80 or Flow-VOQ 70, to receiveand buffer an incoming packet, for every time-slot in ascheduling-frame. A method to compute these schedules is described inFIG. 4 ahead. An example of a deterministic schedule for the controller17 is shown in FIG. 9C ahead.

The Flow-Table 16 in FIG. 1A or 1B can identify up to 1 million flows ina large network. The Flow-Table 16 must be extremely fast, to supply theoutput port quickly before too much of the packet is received. Theremoval of the Flow-Table can result in a significant simplification toan optical packet switch. There is no need to process packet-headers atoptical data-rates, to extract flow-labels to identify the traffic flow.There is no need to have an extremely fast or complex Flow-Table. Recallthat an Internet router's data plane can use about 60% of its power toprocess packet-headers, and it may process billions of packet-headersper second. The reduced-complexity switch in FIG. 3A removes the need toprocess any packet-headers. It removes the need for a very large andvery fast Flow-Table. This switch may therefore save about 60% of thepower in an Internet router.

The removal of the Flow-Table 16 has two other important benefits.First, it can significantly improve the security of the Internet aswell. A deterministic packet switch does not need to process anypacket-headers. Therefore, an entire packet can be encrypted at theoriginating source node, since no deterministic switch will ever need toprocess its packet-header. In contrast, in the current Best-Effortinternet, packet-headers are not encrypted to allow the Internet routersto process the packet-headers. Second, the arrival times of packets onlinks is deterministically scheduled and pre-determined. Hence, it ispossible to detect an unauthorized packet from an intruder during acyber-attack. Any packet which arrives during a time-slot for which nopacket arrival is scheduled must be unauthorized and may be from anintruder. The controller 17 can detect this case, and send a message tothe SDN control-plane (not shown in FIG. 3A), that a packet from anintruder has been detected. In addition, the controller 17 can count thepacket arrivals for each traffic flow or traffic class in eachscheduling frame. If any flow or class receives more packets than itsGuaranteed-Rate allows for, then some packets must be un-authorized andmay be from a cyber-attacker. The controller 17 can inform themaster-controller 34, which can notify the SDN control-plane 110 of thepotential cyber-attack.

FIG. 3B, a Reduced-Complexity XQ Switch

FIG. 3B illustrates an embodiment of a reduced-complexity switch whichuses crosspoint queues (XQs). This switch has some similarities to theCIXOQ switch in FIG. 1C, except that it is much simpler. A switch mayhave N simplified input ports 11, and M simplified output ports 41.

Each simplified input port 11 is connected to an incoming optical fiber2. Each simplified output port 41 is connected to an outgoing opticalfiber 4. The input port 11 has an OE receiver 6, and a packet buffer 8.The simplified output port 41 has a packet buffer 47, which can store apacket. The packet buffer sends a packet to the EO transmitter 49, whichconverts the packet into the optical domain and sends the packet on theoutgoing fiber 4.

The input ports 11 and output ports 41 have been simplified, so thatthey can be combined in one or more Silicon Photonics transceiver diewhich do not require a significant level of design changes fromindustry-standard transceivers such as Ethernet transceivers. Theswitching matrix and master-controller can realized on an FPGA or ASICdie. These die can be interconnected and packaged on a single integratedcircuit package, such as a BGA package. A BGA package is described inFIG. 10 ahead.

The simplified input ports 11 do not require any VOQs 12 or a Flow-Table16. The complexity has shifted from the input ports 11 and moved to theswitch, to keep the Silicon Photonics transceivers relatively simple.The input port 11 requires an OE receiver module 6, and a packet buffer8. Once a packet is received, it is sent into the switch 75.

In FIG. 3B, the switch 75 has a similar structure to the switch 52 inFIG. 1C. The main difference is that the crosspoint queues 77 in theswitch 72 are more complex than the simple crosspoint buffers 55 shownin FIG. 1C. The crosspoint queues 77 can use the full VOQ designs shownin FIG. 2, with Class-VOQs 80 and Flow-VOQs 70. As shown on FIG. 2, eachcrosspoint queue 77 in the switch 72 requires a controller 72 anddemultiplexer 74 to forward data (packets or cells) into the correctClass-VOQ 80 or Flow-VOQ 70. Each crosspoint queue 77 in the switch 72also requires a controller 76 and multiplexer 78 to select data (packetsor cells) from the correct Class-VOQ 80 or Flow-VOQ 70, for transmissiononto a vertical wire 59, towards an output port 41.

In the deterministic XQ switch shown in FIG. 3B, the master-controller34 must configure all the controllers with deterministic periodicschedules, including controllers 56, 58, and 72, 76. Themaster-controller 34 responds to control command from the SDNcontrol-plane 110 (not shown in FIG. 3B). These controllers 56, and 72can be controlled with 2 periodic deterministic schedules, which controlthe reception of packets. Hence, the switch 72 requires memory to store2 periodic deterministic schedules. (These schedules can also be storedin one larger memory, which all controllers can access.) Since aFlow-Table 16 is not used, then the switch 72 should have a time-slotcounter (not shown), which all controllers can access. (Alternatively,each controller can have its own time-slot counter.) The controller 56will identify the VOQ which may receive and buffer a packet in eachtime-slot of a scheduling frame, according to a periodic schedule. Thedeterministic schedule in FIG. 9C is an example of such a schedule usedby controller 56. The controller 56 will identify the VOQ to buffer anarriving packet, based upon the time-slot of the arriving packet in thescheduling frame, according to the schedule. The controller 72 willselect a destination sub-queue, either a Class-VOQ or Flow-VOQ, toreceive and buffer the packet, based upon the time-slot of the arrivingpacket in the scheduling frame, according to a periodic deterministicschedule. (There may be one memory which stores a schedule for allcontrollers 72, or the schedule may be distributed over several smallermemories, i.e., one for each controller 72.)

The controllers 58 and 76 can be controlled with 2 periodicdeterministic schedules, which control the transmission of packets.Hence, the switch 72 requires memory to store these 2 periodicdeterministic schedules as well. (These schedules can also be stored inone larger memory, which all controllers can access.) The controller 58will use one transmission schedule to select a VOQ 77 to transmit, basedupon the time-slot in the scheduling frame. The controller 76 will usethe other transmission schedule to select a sub-queue to transmit, basedupon the time-slot in the scheduling frame. Methods to compute theschedules for controllers 58 and 76 are given in reference [12],entitled “Crossbar Switch and Recursive Scheduling”, U.S. Pat. No.8,503,440 B2, Aug. 6, 2013. There may be one memory which stores onetransmission schedule for all controllers 58, or this schedule may bedistributed over several smaller memories, i.e., one for each controller58. Similarly, there may be one memory which stores the one transmissionschedule for all controllers 76, or this schedule may be distributedseveral smaller memories, i.e., one for each controller 76.

In addition, the controller 56 may have a counter which counts thetime-slots in a scheduling frame. The controller 56 can count the numberof packet arrivals for each traffic flow or traffic class in eachscheduling frame. (If a scheduling frame has F time-slots, then thiscontroller can count the packet arrives over any sequence of Fconsecutive time-slots, which can be viewed as a scheduling frame.) Ifany flow or class receives more packets than its Guaranteed-Rate allowsfor, then some packets must be un-authorized and may be from acyber-attacker. The controller 56 can also verify that no packets arrivein a time-slot for which no arrivals were scheduled. If a packet arrivesin a time-slot for which no arrival was scheduled, the packet isunauthorized and may be from a cyber-attacker. The controller 56 caninform the master-controller 34, which can notify the SDN control-plane110 of the potential cyber-attack. (The controller 56 will need atime-slot counter, which is synchronized with the start of a schedulingframe in which packets arrive on an input-port. Each deterministicpacket switch can send a ‘start-of-scheduling-frame’ signal at thebeginning of each scheduling frame when it transmits packets, which areceiving packet switch can synchronize too.)

FIG. 3C, a Reduced-Complexity IQ Switch

FIG. 3C illustrates another embodiment a reduced-complexitydeterministic switch using Input Queues (IQs). A switch has N inputports 10, and M simplified output ports 41. Each input port 10 isconnected to an incoming optical fiber 2. Each simplified output port 41is connected to an outgoing fiber 4.

The switch in FIG. 3C is similar to the IQ switch in FIG. 1B, except forone significant change. The switch in FIG. 3C adds new functionality tothe input port 10 and uses a new controller 15. The input port uses aFlow-Table 16. When a packet arrives, its flow-label is extracted andused to access the Flow-Table 16. The Flow-table identifies the VOQ toreceive and buffer the packet, and the Flow-VOQ or Class-VOQ within theVOQ, to receive and buffer the packet. The controller 15 can maintain atime-slot counter internally (not shown) to count time-slots in ascheduling-frame. In a scheduling-frame with F time-slots, the time-slotcounter will count from 1 to F repeatedly. (The counter can count packetarrivals over any sequence of F time-slots, which can be viewed as ascheduling frame. This scheme reduces complexity, by avoiding the needfor synchronization to the actual scheduling frame which containsarriving packets.) The controller can count the number of packetarrivals for each traffic flow or traffic class, which arrive on theinput port per scheduling frame. If too many packets arrive in onescheduling frame, above the Guaranteed-Rate reserved for the trafficflow or traffic class, then an error has occurred. The extra packets areunauthorized, and may be from a cyber-attacker. The controller 15 caninform the master-controller 34, which can send a message to the SDNcontrol-plane 110 (not shown) to inform it of the potentialcyber-attack.

FIG. 3D, a Reduced-Complexity XQ Switch

FIG. 3D illustrates another embodiment a reduced-complexitydeterministic switch using Crosspoint Queues (XQs). A switch has Nsimplified input ports 11, and M simplified output ports 41. Each inputport 11 is connected to an incoming optical fiber 2. Each simplifiedoutput port 41 is connected to an outgoing fiber 4.

The switch in FIG. 3D is similar to the XQ switch in FIG. 3B, except for2 main changes. The controller 56 has access to a Flow-Table 16. When apacket arrives, its flow-label is extracted and used to access theFlow-Table. The Flow-table identifies the VOQ to receive and buffer thepacket, and the Flow-VOQ or Class-VOQ within the VOQ, to receive andbuffer the packet.

The controller 56 has new functionality to detect cyber-attacks. Thecontroller 56 can maintain a time-slot counter internally (not shown) tocount time-slots in a scheduling-frame. In a scheduling-frame with Ftime-slots, the time-slot counter will count from 1 to F repeatedly Thecontroller 56 can count the number of packet arrivals for each trafficflow or traffic class, which arrive on the input port, per schedulingframe. (The counter can count packet arrivals over any sequence of Ftime-slots, which can be viewed as a scheduling frame. This schemereduces complexity, by avoiding the need for synchronization to theactual scheduling frame which contains arriving packets.) If too manypackets arrive in one scheduling frame, above the Guaranteed-Ratereserved for the traffic flow or traffic class, then an error hasoccurred. The extra packets are unauthorized, and may be from acyber-attacker. The controller 56 can inform the master-controller 34,which can send a message to the SDN control-plane 110 (not shown) toinform it of the potential cyber-attack.

FIG. 4, a Method to Eliminate Packet-Header Processing

FIG. 4 illustrates a method which can be performed in the SDNcontrol-plane 110, to eliminate the need to process packet-headers inpacket-switches. (An SDN control-plane is described in FIG. 6B ahead.)It would be impossible for a switch, in isolation, to eliminate the needto process packet-headers since it does not have enough information.

The following notation will be used in FIG. 4. The variable s willdenote a switch, with range 1<=s<=S. Let every switch have N input portsand M output ports. The variable j will denote an input port, with range1<=j<=N. The variable k will denote an output port, with range 1<=k<=M.The variable f will denote a traffic flow, with range 1<=f<=G. (For thepurpose of scheduling, a traffic class with a guaranteed-rate is treatedas another traffic flow with a guaranteed-rate.) The variable F willdenote the length of a scheduling-frame, in time-slots.

FIG. 4 illustrates a method which can be performed in the SDNcontrol-plane 110, to eliminate the need to process packet-headers inpacket-switches, and to eliminate the need for an extremely fastFlow-Table 16. The switch may be aware of the traffic rate matrix ofguaranteed data-rates between its input and output ports to schedule.However, the traffic rate matrix is not enough information to enable aswitch to eliminate the need to process packet-headers.

However, when an SDN control-plane 110 is introduced, the SDNcontrol-plane has a global view of the network. The SDN control-planehas sufficient knowledge to determine which traffic flows will betransmitted in each time-slot of a scheduling frame, for every outputport at every deterministic switch. The SDN control-plane can thereforepre-compute several schedules for each switch, and send the schedules toeach switch.

In box 502, the SDN control-plane will route every GR traffic flow alonga fixed path in the network, from a source node to a destination node.The fixed path traverses several switches. The routing process mustensure that no bandwidth capacity constraints at any input port and anyoutput port (or any link) are violated. This step yields 2 matricesA(f,s) and D(f,s). In each switch s, the flow arrives at a fixed inputport j=A(f,s), and departs on a fixed output port k=D(f,s). Every flowhas a guaranteed data-rate to be satisfied, which is stored in thevector GR(f).

In box 504, the SDN control-plane can determine a traffic rate matrixT(j,k) for each switch s. This step yields a 3D array T(j,k,s). Forevery flow f that traverses switch s, its guaranteed rate GR(f) is addedto element T(j,k,s), where j=A(f,s) and k=D(f,s).

In box 506, for each switch s, a list of traffic flows which depart onoutput port k is determined, from the routing information in box 502. Alist of traffic flows which arrive on input port j can also determined,from the routing information in box 502.

In box 508, for every switch s the traffic rate matrix is scheduled.Scheduling algorithms for a CIOQ switch are given in [10], “Method andApparatus to Schedule Packets Through a Crossbar Switch with DelayGuarantees”, U.S. Pat. No. 8,089,959 B2, Jan. 3, 2012, and in [9],“Method to Achieve Bounded Buffer Sizes and Quality of ServiceGuarantees in the Internet Network”, U.S. Pat. No. 8,665,722, March2014, and in [12], “Crossbar Switch and Recursive Scheduling”, U.S. Pat.No. 8,503,440 B2, Aug. 6, 2013.

In the SDN control-plane, this scheduling yields a 3D array A(j,t,s),where k=A(j,t,s) yields the output port k that a VOQ(j,k) associatedwith input port j will transmit to, in time-slot t of switch s. For aCIOQ switch s, the matrix A(j,t) yields a first schedule, which mapsinput ports onto output ports, in each time-slot. (In this notation, thevalue s has been fixed, to identify a 2D matrix for switch s).Equivalently, k=A(j,t) determines which VOQ at input port j can transmitin switch s, in each time-slot of a scheduling frame. This firstschedule provides each VOQ with its guaranteed rate of transmission.

In a CIXQ switch s, a schedule A(k,t) is generated, where j=A(k,t)identifies the VOQ(j,k) which is enabled to transmit to output port k,in each time-slot t of a scheduling-frame. This schedule provides eachVOQ (crosspoint queue) with its guaranteed rate of transmission. In theSDN control-plane, this matrix for switch s can be stored in a 3D arrayA(k,t,s).

Note that a switch s can also compute its own matrix A(j,t) in box 508,if the SDN control-plane sends the traffic matrix T(:,:,s) to saidswitch s. (In this notation, s is fixed, yielding a matrix T with N rowsand M columns, which applies to switch s).

In box 510, the traffic flows are scheduled for transmission on eachoutput link k, in each switch s. The guaranteed-rate service each VOQreceives in box 508 is allocated to the traffic flows buffered withinsaid VOQ. Scheduling algorithms to schedule traffic flows are given in[10], “Method to Achieve Bounded Buffer Sizes and Quality of ServiceGuarantees in the Internet Network”, U.S. Pat. No. 8,665,722, March2014, and in [13], “Method to Schedule Multiple Traffic Flows ThroughPacket-Switched Routers with Near Minimal Queue Sizes”, U.S. Pat. No.8,681,609 B2, Mar. 25, 2014.

For the purposes of scheduling, a traffic class with a guaranteed rateis treated as a traffic flow with a guaranteed rate, in this step. In aCIOQ switch s, this step yields an matrix P(j,t), where f=P(j,t) yieldsthe traffic flow (or traffic class) f which receives service, if any, atinput port j of said switch at time-slot t. In the SDN control-plane,this matrix for switch s can be stored in a 3D array P(j,t,s). (In aCIXQ switch s, this step yields a matrix P(k,t), where f=P(k,t) yieldsthe traffic flow or traffic class which receives service at output portk, at time-slot t at switch s. In the SDN control-plane, this matrix canbe stored in a 3D array P(k,t,s).)

In box 510, the SDN control-plane already knows, for every switch s, thelist of flows which depart on each output link k, in each time-slot of ascheduling frame, as these were computed in box 502. This step alsoyields an array Q(k,t,s), where f=Q(k,t,s) yields the traffic flow, ifany, which departs on output link k, at time-slot t, in switch s. When aVOQ(j,k) in switch s receives service in a time-slot t (determined fromthe schedule A) and selects flow f to transmit (determined from theschedule P), then Q(k,t,s) is assigned the value f (an idle time-slot isdenoted with a 0).

(In box 510, a switch s can also schedule its own flows and compute thematrix Q, if it is has the matrices A and P, the list of flowstraversing said switch, the output ports used by said flows, and theguaranteed rates of said flows.)

In box 512, for each switch s and for each output port k, said switch scan send a vector on the output port k to a receiving switch s*. Thevector is Q(k,:,s). (In this notation, the value of k is fixed, thevalue of s is fixed, and the variable t can vary from 1 to F, yielding avector of F elements.) This vector identifies the traffic flows whichwill arrive at each time-slot in a scheduling frame, at the receivinginput port j of the receiving switch s*. Each switch s* will now knowthe precise arrival time-slots of traffic flows on its incoming port.(The SDN control-plane can also send the vector to each receiving switchs*, rather than the switch s.)

In box 514, for each switch s and each input port j, said switch s willreceive a vector from a sending switch s* on its input port j. Call thisvector Q(1,t). (This notation represents 1 row, with F columns.) Thisvector can be placed into row j of a matrix Q(j,t). f=Q(j,t) identifiesthe traffic flow which will arrive at time-slot t in a scheduling frame,at said input port j, at said switch s. This matrix Q(j,t) represents athird schedule, which identifies the traffic flow received in eachtime-slot of a scheduling frame, at each input port j, at switch s. Inthe SDN control-plane, this matrix can be written into a 3D arrayQ(j,t,s), where Q(j,t,s)=f yields the traffic flow f which will arriveat time-slot t at input port j of switch s.

In box 516, in each switch s, and each input port j, a new vector Y(1,t)is generated, which identifies the output ports needed by the trafficflows which arrive on input port j of said switch s, for every time-slott in a scheduling frame. This vector can be placed into row j of amatrix Y(j,t). The flow f=Q(j,t) will arrive at said switch s on inputport j, at time-slot t. The output port used by this flow in this switchis given by k=D(f,s) (see box 502). This value is written into the newvector Y(j,t). This vector Y represents a fourth schedule, which willremove the need to process packet-headers. For example, at input port jof switch s, every packet which arrives at time-slot t will be routed tooutput port k=Y(j,t), and this information identifies the VOQ(j,k) toreceive said packet. In the SDN control-plane, this matrix can bewritten into a 3D array Y(j,t,s), where k=Y(j,t,s) yields the outputport k, to be used by a packet which will arrive at time-slot t, atinput port j of switch s.

By performing this method, every switch can receive 2 schedules, whichwill remove the need to process any packet-headers on the packetsarriving from other switches.

Traffic sources 93 are distinct from switches 95, as illustrated in FIG.6A ahead. To remove the need to process packet-headers on the packetsarriving from a traffic source 93 (rather than a deterministic switch95), the SDN control-plane 110 can allocate for each source 93 aguaranteed-rate of transmission, and it can allocate the time-slotswithin a scheduling frame, in which the source 93 is allowed totransmit. (A low-jitter allocation of time-slots is preferred.(Low-jitter schedules are described in FIG. 11 ahead.) The source 93 canthen transmit its packets in the allocated time-slots of ascheduling-frame. To eliminate the use of packet-header processing in areceiving switch, a source 93 must send a ‘start-of-scheduling-frame’pattern at the beginning of each scheduling frame, so that a receivingswitch can count the time-slots. Similarly, every deterministic switchwhich transmits data on an output port must send a‘start-of-scheduling-frame’ signal to denote the beginning of ascheduling frame, so that the receiving switches can count thetime-slots.

FIG. 5, PACKET FORMATS

Packets can have many formats, including the Ethernet, Infiniband,FiberChannel, ATM, MPLS, IPv4 or IPv6 packet formats, or any otherpacket format.

FIG. 5A shows an 802.3 Ethernet packet. A traffic flow can be identifiedby the MAC source and destination addresses (48 bits each). The payloadcan vary between about 46 and about 1500 bytes. (When 802.1Q virtual LANtechnology is used, 4 bytes are used to identify the virtual LANs, andthe minimum payload is 42 bytes.) The basic Ethernet packet includes aninitial preamble of 7 bytes, a ‘start-of-frame’ delimiter whichidentifies packet boundaries, a Media Access Control (MAC) destinationaddress with 48 bits, a MAC source address with 48 bits, an optionaltag, an Ethernet type field, the payload, a frame check sequence forerror detection, and a final interpacket gap. One variant of the basicEthernet is the Deterministic Ethernet standard, where 3 bytes are usedto identify a Virtual Network.

FIG. 5B illustrates the IPv4 packet format. The packet header canconsume 24 bytes. A traffic flow can be identified from the source anddestination IP addresses (32 bits each), and the protocol versionnumber.

FIG. 5C illustrates the IPv6 fixed packet-header format. Thepacket-header can consume 40 bytes. A traffic flow can be identifiedfrom a 20 bit flow-label. IPv6 packets can be very large, up to 64Kbytes (and even larger).

FIG. 6, Networks in Layer-3 and Layer-2.

FIGS. 6A and 6B illustrate a network composed of multiplepacket-switches. A network can be viewed at several layers. The InternetProtocol operates at layer 3, and the nodes in a layer-3 network areInternet routers. By definition, layer 3 nodes such as Internet routersmake routing decisions when they send packets forward. By definition,layer 2 nodes do not make routing decisions when they send packetsforward.

In FIG. 6A, many Internet routers 95 can be interconnected with directedoptical transmission links 98 to form an Internet Protocol network. Theoptical links 98 transmit layer-3 packets, such as IPv4 or IPv6 packets.The network may support many end-to-end traffic flows, each from asource node 93 to a destination node 99 in the network. An end-to-endflow can follow a layer-3 path from the source 93 to the destination 99.The edges 98 a, 98 b and 98 c form a layer-3 path from the source 93 tothe destination 99. The edges 98 d, 98 e and 98 f form another layer-3path from the source 93 to the destination 99.

FIGS. 6A and 6B also show one embodiment of our proposed methods andhardware design, consisting of a layer-2 deterministic ‘OpticalTransport Network’ consisting of integrated deterministic opticalpacket-switches 100 and directed optical links 102 between the opticalpacket-switches 100. (The bold lines represent established deterministicconnections. The dotted lines in FIGS. 6A and 6B represent optical links102.) The proposed integrated deterministic optical packet-switches canoperate in layer 2, and they are much simpler than IP routers whichoperate in layer 3, since they are not responsible for making routingdecisions.

Using the methods and design techniques presented in this patentapplication, in one embodiment the reduced-complexity deterministicoptical packet-switches 100 in layer 2 can be built on a singleintegrated circuit package, using Silicon Photonics transceivers. Theproposed deterministic switch designs can reduce Internet router buffersizes by a factor of potentially 100,000 to 1,000,000 times, and caneliminate the need to process packet-headers, thereby enabling apractical switch to be realized on a single integrated package. Theswitch can also detect unauthorized packets from a cyber-attacker.

The proposed layer 2 network is oriented to the efficient transportationof data with exceptionally low latencies. Many deterministic trafficflows can traverse several switches in the layer 2 network, therebybypassing several more complex Internet routers in layer 3, whichsignificantly reduces delay and energy. In FIG. 6B, the bold linesrepresent deterministic connections which bypass several routers inlayer 3. Layer-3 Internet routers can incur delays of 10s to 100s ofmilliseconds. These delays are avoided in the proposed deterministiclayer 2 network. According to the paper [7], entitled “Securing theIndustrial-Tactile Internet of Things with Deterministic SiliconPhotonics Switches”, IEEE Access Magazine, September 2016, the use ofdeterministic layer 2 integrated optical switches can reduce the energyused by a factor of 100 to 1000 times, compared to a layer 3 Internetrouter.

The integrated optical packet switches can also transport large packets,since they focus on the efficient transport of data. For example, thelayer 2 network could use a layer 2 packet size of 16 Kbytes or 64Kbytes. Each layer 2 packet could contain 1 or more smaller InternetProtocol packets from layer 3, which would need to be placed within alayer 2 packet. Each layer 2 packet could also contain a fraction of avery large IPv6 packet with more than 64 Kbytes.

The layer 3 Internet Protocol network may support multiple trafficclasses, where each link 98 or 102 can transmit packets belonging tomultiple traffic classes. The IETF's Differentiated Services trafficmodel supports 3 prioritized traffic classes, called ‘ExpeditedForwarding’ (EF), the ‘Assured Forwarding’ AF, and the Default (DE)traffic classes. A new class can be added to support Deterministictraffic flows, each with a Guaranteed-Rate of transmission. All thesetraffic classes can be supported in a layer 2 integrated deterministicoptical packet-switch.

FIG. 6B also illustrates a Software Defined Networking (SDN)control-plane 110. SDN refers to a type of network where a logical SDNcontrol-plane 110 (also called an SDN control-plane) exists, to controlthe switches or routers in a network. The SDN control-plane 110 cancontrol each switch or router 95 in a layer-3 network, typically bysending control packets over the network to each switch. Similarly, theSDN control-plane 110 can control each switch 100 in a layer-2 OpticalTransport Network, typically by sending control packets over the networkto each layer 2 switch 100. In our embodiment of a deterministic layer 2network as shown in FIG. 6B, the control packets can instruct a layer-2deterministic switch 100 to configure its controllers with severaldeterministic periodic schedules. The logical SDN control-plane 110 canexist as a single software program at one location, or it can consist ofseveral software programs which are distributed over multiple locations,which communicate with each other.

For example, the SDN control-plane 110 can receive a request for aconnection to be established between 2 nodes (i.e., 2 cities) with aGuaranteed-Rate. The control-plane 110 can route a deterministic trafficflow along an end-to-end path through the layer 2 OTN to satisfy therequest, such that no capacity constraints are violated. The SDNcontrol-plane 110 can then send control packets to the packet-switchesalong the end-to-end path, to configure the switches to support thedeterministic traffic flow. For example, the SDN control-plane canprogram the Flow-Table memory 16 at each switch or router 95 along theend-to-end path, to inform the switch that a new deterministic trafficflow with a specific flow-label will arrive at that switch at a specificinput port. The switch will forward the packets of this flow to thecorrect output port, and it may exchange the original label with a newlabel (if instructed by the Flow-Table). The SDN control-plane 110 mayalso send control packets instructing the switch to configure thedeterministic periodic schedules at each switch along the end-to-endpath. The SDN control-plane 110 can compute the schedules and send themto each switch, as described in FIG. 4. Alternatively, the SDNcontrol-plane 110 can send a traffic rate matrix to each switch alongthe end-to-end path, as also described in FIG. 4. A traffic rate matrixis shown in FIG. 7 ahead. A traffic matrix specifies the guaranteed datarates which must be supported between the input ports and output portsfor each switch.

FIG. 7, the Guaranteed-Rate Traffic Matrix

FIG. 7 illustrates a traffic rate matrix T 200. A switch with N inputports and M output ports can have a N×M matrix called T 200 ofguaranteed rates (GR) of traffic, to be supported between its N inputand M output ports. In a discrete-time switch, each matrix elementT(i,j) 202 can be expressed as a number of time-slot reservationsrequired between input port i and output port j, in a scheduling frameof F time-slots. Consider a network of discrete-time switches, where ascheduling frame has F time-slots. To be a valid matrix, two constraintsmust be met: (1) The sum of GR demands by each input port j must be lessthan F, i.e., the sum of row j of the matrix must be <=F. (2) The sum ofbandwidths demands for each output port k must be less than F, i.e., thesum of column k of the matrix must be <=F. (The periodic schedules canbe re-used as long as the traffic rate matrix does not change. When thetraffic rate matrix changes, the schedules must be recomputed.)

FIG. 8, an All-Optical Packet Switch

FIG. 8A shows one embodiment of the invention, an all-optical packetswitch. FIG. 8A shows the optical pathways through the network, withoutshowing the controllers. The switch interconnects incoming fibers 401and outgoing fibers 440. The switch contains optical demultiplexers 400,controllable optical demultiplexers 402, optical buffers 404,controllable optical multiplexers 406, an all-optical switch 410,wavelength converters 420, and optical multiplexers 430. Each switch hasa master-controller 34, which receives commands from an SDNcontrol-plane 110.

Due to the significant reduction in complexity due to the proposedinvention, the all-optical switch in FIG. 8A can also be realized on anintegrated Silicon-Photonics integrated circuit. An SDN control-plane110 can control the master-controller 34 associated with each switch, tosupport deterministic end-to-end connections in a deterministic orGuaranteed-Rate all-optical layer 2 network.

Packets arrive on incoming fibers 401, on multiple wavelengths. In adiscrete-time switch, the time-axis can be divided into schedulingframes each consisting of F packet time-slots. Each incoming opticalpacket must be scheduled for transmission in one packet time-slot on anoutgoing fiber 440 and outgoing wavelength. The use of Guaranteed-Rateconnections greatly simplifies the operation of the all-optical switch,as a result of the deterministic TDM-based periodic schedules: (1)Packets arrive to each switch at deterministic times according to aperiodic schedule for each fiber, (2) Each packet will be buffered for asmall number of time-slots (if any); (3) Packets will depart each switchat deterministic times according to a periodic schedule for each fiber.The method in FIG. 4 illustrates how the SDN control-plane 110 cancompute deterministic schedules for an all-optical switch.

The SDN control-plane 110 configures the electronic controllers, whichcontrol the optical-components to perform the switching: The opticaldemultiplexers 402 are activated to forward packets into optical buffers404 at the correct time-slots. The optical multiplexers 406 areactivated to forward packets from optical buffers 404, through theoptical switch 410 to the wavelength converters 420, and onto the anoutgoing fiber 440, in the correct time-slots. The optical switch isactivated to perform the periodic schedules described earlier. There isa first periodic schedule to control the de-multiplexers 402, to assignoptical packets to optical buffers 404. There is a second periodicschedule to control the optical buffers 404, to control how long eachpacket is buffered for. There is a third period schedule to control theoptical multiplexers 406, to select a packet for transmission throughthe switch. There is a fourth periodic schedule to control thewavelength converters 418 before the optical switch. The desired outputport is reached by adjusting the wavelength of the packet transmission,before the packet enters the packet switch. The switch can route packetsto an output port based upon the wavelength of the packet. There is afifth periodic schedule, to control the wavelength converters 420 afterthe optical switch. These converters assign the packet to a finalwavelength for long distance transmission.

In one embodiment of the proposed invention, an integrated single-chipall-optical packet switch can be realized using the Silicon-Photonicstechnology. This technology allows for the integration of CMOS logicalong with optical waveguides, optical wavelength converters, andoptical binary switches, all in the same integrated circuit. The opticalpacket buffers in FIG. 8A or 8B can use a small number of fiber delayloops, which could be external to the integrated circuit package. Itwould be impossible to implement a regular Best-Effort Internet routeron a single chip, simply due to the vast amount of buffering required,and the vast amount of packet-header processing needed. However, byusing a reduced-complexity deterministic switch with deterministicperiodic schedules, the amount of buffering is reduced by factor ofpotentially 100,000 to 1,000,000 times, thus enabling a reducedcomplexity deterministic optical packet switch to be fabricated on oneintegrated circuit package. The reduced-complexity deterministic switchalso eliminates the need to process packet-headers at optical rates, andit eliminates the need for a very large and extremely fast Flow-Table16. When using the Silicon Photonics technology, the packet buffers inFIGS. 8A and 8B can also be implemented in CMOS memory, as theSilicon-Photonics technology integrates all-optical components and CMOSlogic together, and allows for the fast conversion between theelectrical and optical domains.

FIG. 8B shows controllers 403 to control the optical demultiplexers 402.It also shows controllers 407 to control optical multiplexers 406. Italso adds wavelength converters 420 before the switch, and theircontrollers 421, so that a connection can be established to an outputport by converting the wavelength appropriately. Switch 410 can be awavelength-routed switch, where a connection can be established to anoutput port by transmitting on an appropriate wavelength.

The master-controller 34 can also monitor the packet arrivals to detectunauthorized packets from a cyber-attacker, and inform the SDNcontrol-plane 110. If any GR traffic flow receives too many packets perscheduling frame, some packets must be unauthorized and may be from acyber-attacker. If any packet arrives in a time-slot for which noarrival is scheduled, then the packet must be unauthorized and may befrom a cyber-attacker. The master controller 34 could then inform theSDN control-plane 110 of a potential cyber-attack.

FIG. 9, the Flow Table

FIG. 9 illustrates an embodiment for a Flow-Table for the proposeddeterministic packet switches, as shown in an input port 12 of theswitch in FIG. 1A. Let each traffic flow arriving on a link beidentified by a flow-label number. This incoming flow-label is used toread the Flow-Table 16, as shown in FIG. 1A. The Flow-Table 16 willidentify the desired output port and hence the VOQ to store the packet.Each packet can maintain a stack of labels, with one label initially.When flows are aggregated, a new label can be pushed onto the stack, toidentify the aggregated flow. When flows are dis-aggregated, aflow-label is popped off the stack, leaving each flow with its originallabel. (The most recently added flow-label takes precedence.)

In the table in FIG. 9A, each row represents one traffic flow with adistinct flow-label. There are multiple columns for each flow. Thecolumn LABEL-IN identifies the label on an incoming packet, the columnLABEL-OUT identifies the label to be inserted on an outgoing packet, thecolumn OP-PORT identifies the outgoing output port 14 that this packetwill use, and the column RATE identifies the Guaranteed-Rate of thetraffic flow. In this example, the Guaranteed-Rate is expressed as anumber of time-slot reservations per scheduling frame of length Ftime-slots. Let each packet have a label-stack, with at least 1 label.The column SWAP contains a number, where 0 indicates to swap the labelin the packet header, where 1 indicates to push a new label onto thepacket label-stack, and where 2 indicates to pop the label off thepacket label-stack. The value 3 indicates to pop the label off thestack, and to swap the older label with a new label. These fouroperations allow the SDN control-plane 110 to aggregate multipledeterministic traffic flows arriving at a switch, into a new flow with anew deterministic rate and a new flow-label (the older flow-label isretained in the packet flow-label stack but remains unused, as a newlabel has been pushed onto the label stack and it takes precedence).These operations also allow the SDN control-plane 110 to dis-aggregateone deterministic flow arriving at a switch into multiple deterministictraffic flows, by removing the flow-label for the aggregated flow, andreplacing it by the original flow-labels of the flows which wereaggregated.

In the table in FIG. 9A, three traffic flows with incoming labels 27,130 and 94 will all be buffered in the same VOQ 12, since they will exiton a common output port with label 1. Without any aggregation, eachtraffic flow is treated as an independent traffic flow, and has its ownFlow-VOQ 70 in the VOQ as shown in FIG. 2. Each flow can have its labelswapped with a new label, as indicated in the fifth column.

With aggregation, all 3 traffic flows with incoming labels 27, 130 and94 can be aggregated into one new deterministic flow that leaves thisswitch. In FIG. 9B, all three traffic flows are assigned the sameoutgoing label, 103, which is pushed onto the packet label-stack (theold label is retained in the packet label-stack, but remains unused). Inthe following switches, the aggregated traffic flow with incoming label103 is treated as one logical flow with Guaranteed-Rate 45+25+35=105. Inthe following switches, the aggregated traffic flow will use oneFlow-VOQ 70, and the aggregated traffic flow can be scheduled as oneflow with a higher rate of 105 time-slot reservations per schedulingframe.

Traffic aggregation can happen hierarchically, so that traffic flows canbe aggregated to several times, as desired by the network operator.Therefore, in a layer 2 or layer 3 network, a very large number ofun-aggregated traffic flows between the same pair of cities can beaggregated into relatively small number of highly-aggregated trafficflows between the pair of cities, to reduce the number of Flow-VOQs 70used in a switch, to support scalability.

The proposed method in FIG. 4 can be used to avoid processingpacket-headers, In this case, the Flow-Table in FIG. 9A can beeliminated, and a new deterministic schedule can be created with thesame information, as shown in FIG. 9C. The new deterministic schedulecan have F rows, where each row corresponds to one time-slot in ascheduling frame with F time-slots. A deterministic schedule is shown inFIG. 9C. Each row corresponds to a time-slot in a scheduling frame, withF=1,024 time-slots. If a packet arrives at time-slot t, for 1<=t<=F,then row t will specify the incoming label of the flow, the outgoinglabel, the desired output port, the Guaranteed-Rate, and the action totake. If no arrival is scheduled, the label-in value is 0. In FIG. 9C,packets arrive in time-slots 1, 3, 512 and 1,024. The desired outputport is read from the deterministic schedule, which also determines theVOQ to store the packet.

Using the deterministic schedule in FIG. 9C, it is possible for acontroller to detect the arrivals of unauthorized packets. Any packetwhich arrives in a time-slot for which no arrival is scheduled, must beunauthorized and may be from a cyber-attacker. When a packet arrives ina time-slot, the schedule in FIG. 9C indicates if an arrival wasscheduled for said time-slot. The schedule also indicates the incomingflow-label which should be present in the arriving packet. A controllercan compare the flow-label in the packet, with the flow-table in thedeterministic schedule, to ensure that they match. If any error isdetected, a controller (not shown in FIG. 9C) can inform the SDNcontrol-plane (not shown in FIG. 9C) of the errors, which may indicate acyber-attack.

FIG. 9, an Integrated Circuit Package with Many Die

A ‘Field Programmable Gate Array’ (FPGA) is a CMOS integrated circuit,where the functionality can be programmed dynamically in the field byusing Computer Aided Design (CAD) tools. Current FPGAs can contain up toa few million programmable logic gates, a few hundred megabits of highspeed memory, and can reach computational performances of severalTeraflops per second (for single-precision floating-point arithmetic).Given their extreme flexibility, FPGAs are produced in quantities ofmillions with very low costs. Unfortunately, the impressive on-chipperformance of FPGAs is severely limited by the inability to move vastamounts of data onto and off the chip easily.

The electrical IO bandwidth of FPGAs is currently limited to a few Tbps,using high-power electronic IO signalling technologies which can consumeup to 80 W of power. For example, using a BGA integrated circuitpackage, an FPGA may have about 1,000 high-speed differential electronicwires operating at a few GHz, to provide a few Tbps of Input-Output (IO)bandwidth.

The integration of electrical FPGAs or ASICs with optical IOtechnologies represents an viable low-cost method to introduce opticaltechnologies into the communications and computing industry. FPGAs whichare integrated with low-cost Silicon Photonics transceivers in principlecould provide many Tbps of optical IO bandwidth, and such devices may beavailable within a decade. Hence, a generic FPGA device which isintegrated with multiple Silicon Photonics transceivers (i.e., Ethernettransceivers) might be available within a decade. The proposed methodand design disclosed in this document result in a vast reduction in thecomplexity of optical packet switches, with buffer size reductions by afactor of potentially 100,000 to 1,000,000 times. The proposed inventionalso can remove the need to process potentially billions of packetheaders per second, and can improve cyber-security. In anotherembodiment of the proposed invention, a reduced-complexity deterministicpacket switch can be implemented on an integrated photonic package,comprising Silicon Photonics transceivers and an FPGA or ASIC die.

As another embodiment of the proposed invention, it is possible tointegrate a die containing laser diode transmitter arrays, and anotherdie containing photo-detector arrays, along with an FPGA or ASIC, onto asingle integrated circuit package which realizes a deterministic opticalpacket switch. Laser diode transmitter arrays and photodetector arraysare described in the paper [19], entitled “Terabit/Sec VCSEL-Based48-Channel Optical Module Based on Holey CMOS Transceiver IC”, IEEE JLT,2013.

FIG. 10A illustrates a Ball Grid Array (BGA) integrated circuit package600 with a main package substrate 608. The package contains lead solderballs 602 which make an electrical connection to a printed circuit board(not shown). The package holds 2 die 604, which are interconnected witha small third die 606, called a bridge die, which acts as an electricalbridge between the 2 die 604. The bridge die 606 may also be placedunderneath the die 604, which are held in place with another substrate(not shown). The bridge die 606 can contain hundreds and potentiallythousands of high-speed low-power electrical wires. This approach allowsfor a much higher data-rate to be supported between the die 606, than ispossible if each die 604 was packaged on a separate BGA package. The die604 are interconnected to the BGA package solder balls 602 usingexisting methods (not shown in FIG. 9A).

FIG. 10B illustrates another packaging technology which uses aninterposer integrated circuit 610. The interposer 610 is a largeintegrated circuit, which typically has an area sufficient to containall the die 604 that it interconnects. The interposer 610 can provide alarge number high-speed low-power electrical wires between the die 604.The interposer is interconnected to the BGA package solder balls 602using existing methods (not shown in FIG. 9B).

These technologies create the opportunity to integrate silicon photonicstransceiver die, with FPGA or ASIC die, into a single integrated circuitpackage such as a BGA package. The resulting package could have anoptical Input-Output (IO) bandwidth of several Tbps in the near term,and potentially 10 to 50 Tbps of IO bandwidth in the future. Theproposed methods and designs disclosed in this document allow forpractical reduced-complexity deterministic packet switches, with 10s ofTbps of 10 bandwidth, to fit on a single integrated circuit package.

Wireless Networks

The proposed invention can also be applied to switches for wirelessnetworks. The method to remove the need to process packet-headers, andof using deterministic schedules to select an output port of the switch,can also be used in a switch within a wireless router. For example, theCIOQ switch in FIG. 3A or 3C or the CIXOQ switch in FIG. 3B or 3D can beused in a wireless router, in a deterministic wireless network. In FIG.1, the controller 14 can have memory to store a deterministic periodicschedule, to select the output port and VOQ for each arriving wirelesspacket. Deterministic wireless networks are described in the US patent[11], entitled “Delay and Jitter Limited Wireless Mesh NetworkScheduling”, U.S. Pat. No. 8,619,556 B2, Dec. 31, 2013.

FIG. 11, Low Jitter Schedules

FIG. 11A illustrates a low-jitter schedule. Consider a discrete-timeswitch, where a scheduling frame has F=1,024 time-slots. (F can be anypositive integer. When F is a power of 2, i.e., 2{circumflex over( )}10=1024 or 2{circumflex over ( )}14=16,384, then the schedulingalgorithms may use recursion, which can simplify the computations.) Ascheduling frame 540 has a duration of F time-slots. A time-slot isdenoted with the label 550. A time-slot may have sufficient duration toallow a packet with about 1500 bytes to be transmitted (or any othernumber of bytes that the network administrator chooses). Consider atraffic flow with label 77, which requests a Guaranteed-Rate oftransmission, corresponding to 5 time-slot reservations per schedulingframe. The 5 time-slots allocated for transmission should ideally bedistributed, in a manner to minimize the packet jitter. When the packetjitter is minimized, the size of the buffers to store the packets willalso be minimized. The packet jitter can be defined as the variance ofthe time duration in between packet transmissions. Ideally and in alow-jitter schedule, the number of transmission reservations in eachhalf of the scheduling frame will be relatively equal. Ideally and in alow-jitter schedule, the number of transmission reservations in eachquarter of the scheduling frame will be relatively equal. In FIG. 11A,flow 77 receives 2 time-slots of service in the first half of theschedule, and it receives 3 time-slots of service in the second half ofthe schedule, which is as good as can be. Flow 77 receives 1 time-slotof service in the first, second and fourth quarters of the schedule, andit receives 2 time-slots of service in the third of the quarterschedule, which is also as good as can be.

In general, a flow f with a Guaranteed-Rate equal to R time-slots ofreservation per scheduling frame, should receive about R/2 time-slots ofreservation in each half of the schedule, and it should receive aboutR/4 time-slot reservations in each quarter of the schedule. Some smalldeviations are expected, as the scheduling algorithm has to satisfyseveral competing demands for service. For example, the number oftransmission reservations in each interval of the scheduling frame maydiffer by a small constant, such as K=1, 2 or 4 time-slot reservations.

Consider a flow f with a Guaranteed-Rate of R time-slots of reservationsper scheduling frame. Ideally, the service the flow receives over afraction of the scheduling-frame comprising time-slots 1 . . . T, forT<=F, will be a pro-rated fraction of its Guaranteed-Rate. For example,if a flow receives R time-slot reservations in a scheduling frame with Ftime-slots, then it should receive a pro-rated fraction equal to (T/F)*Rtime-slots of reservation, in the fraction of the scheduling-framecomprising time-slots 1 . . . T, for T<=F. Some small deviations areexpected, as the scheduling algorithms have to satisfy several competingdemands for service. The amount of service received in a fraction of thescheduling-frame may deviate by a small constant, such as K=1, 2 or 4time-slot reservations.

The discussion thus far has used a discrete-time model for a packetswitch, where a scheduling frame comprises F time-slots of fixedduration. However, the proposed methods and designs also apply to acontinuous-time model of a packet switch. FIG. 11B illustrates acontinuous-time model, where the duration of the time-slots is not fixedand can vary. A scheduling interval 560 can have a fixed duration oftime F can equal 1 microsecond, or 1 millisecond, or some other value. Ascheduling algorithm can reserve packet-intervals 562 for thetransmission of packets, and these packet-intervals may have variabletime durations. The transmission of each packet in a packet-interval hasa start-time 564, and an end-time 566, which are determined by the sizeof the packet. A continuous-time schedule comprises an ordered list ofevents, and their start-times and end-times. For example, a schedule oftransmissions in a scheduling interval can comprise an ordered list ofthe VOQs to transmit, an ordered list of the Flow-VOQs or Class-VOQswithin the VOQs to transmit, and the specification of the start-timesand end-times of the packet transmissions within a scheduling interval.A schedule of receptions in a scheduling interval can comprise anordered list of the VOQs to receive a packet, an ordered list of theFlow-VOQs or Class-VOQs within the VOQs to receive said packet, and thespecification of the approximate start-times and end-times of the packettransmissions within a scheduling interval.

A low-jitter schedule for a Guaranteed-rate traffic flow is one wherethe amount of data transmitted in each half of the scheduling intervalfor that traffic flow is approximately equal. Similarly, the amount ofdata transmitted in each quarter of the scheduling interval for thattraffic flow is approximately equal.

Consider a flow f with a Guaranteed-Rate of transmission equal to Rbytes per scheduling interval. Ideally, the service the flow receivesover a fraction of the scheduling interval of duration T, where T<=F,will be a pro-rated fraction of its Guaranteed-Rate. For example, if aflow receives R bytes of transmission reservation in a schedulinginterval with duration of F time, then it should receive a pro-ratedfraction equal to (T/F)*R bytes of transmission reservation, in thefraction of the scheduling-interval with duration T time, where T<=F.Some small deviations are expected, as the scheduling algorithms have tosatisfy several competing demands for service. The amount of servicereceived in a fraction of the scheduling-interval may deviate by a smallamount, such as the amount of service equal to R/8 or R/16.

The proposed methods and designs also apply to a continuous-time switch.In this case, a continuous-time schedule comprises an ordered list ofpacket transmissions, and their start-times and end-times.

Finally, the previous embodiments are intended to be illustrative onlyand in no way limiting. The described embodiments of carrying out theinvention are susceptible to many modifications of form, arrangement ofparts, details and order of operation. The invention, rather, isintended to encompass all such modifications within its scope, asdefined by the claims.

For example, the buffers and queues in the routers have been describedas VOQs, Class-VOQs, and Flow-VOQs. In practice, all these queues mayreside in the same memory module, and they may be defined throughpointers to memory, and they may exist only as logical abstractions.Similarly, the multiple VOQs in each input port can all reside in thesame memory module, and they may be defined through pointers to memory,and they may exist only as logical abstractions. This variation iseasily handled with the proposed methods. In another example, theplurality of deterministic schedules for a switch may be stored in onelarge schedule, or they may be stored in one memory, or they may bestored in smaller memories distributed through the switch. In anotherexample, the disclosure discusses one optical-to-electrical converterper input port, and one electrical-to-optical converter per output port.However, an input port and output port can have a plurality of suchconverters, to increase the data-rates. Similarly, this disclosureillustrates that each input port may have one VOQ to buffer packetsdirected to an output port, but an input port may have a plurality ofVOQs to buffer packets directed to an output port, to increasedata-rates.

1. A method of operating a plurality of switches within apacket-switched network that delivers pre-established Guaranteed-Rate(GR) traffic flows, each of said plurality of switches comprising Ninput ports; M output ports; N×M queues, wherein each of said N inputports is associated with M of said N×M queues and each of said M outputports is associated with N of said N×M queues, and wherein each of saidN×M queues buffers packets from a particular one of said N input portsdestined to a particular one of said M output ports; wherein each ofsaid N×M queues is further partitioned into a set of flow-queues,wherein each of said flow-queue buffers packets that belong to adistinct traffic flow across said network, and wherein each of saidflow-queues is associated with a guaranteed data-rate; a first memory, asecond memory, said method comprising; for each switch of said pluralityof switches, determining which of said GR traffic flows will arrive ateach of said N input ports of that switch, and which of said GR trafficflows will depart on each of said M output ports of that switch, in eachtime-slot of a scheduling frame; determining for each input port of saidN input ports at that switch, a first periodic schedule that identifieswhich of said M queues to buffer each arriving packet for that inputport, based upon the arrival time-slot of that arriving packet withinsaid scheduling frame; determining for each of said N input ports atthat switch, a second periodic schedule that identifies which of theflow-queues to buffer each arriving packet for that input queue, basedupon the arrival time-slot of that arriving packet within saidscheduling frame; storing the first periodic schedules for each of saidN input ports in said first memory of that switch; storing theappropriate one of said second periodic schedules for each of said Ninput ports in said second memory of that switch. 2.-29. (canceled)